Wild Young Hearts
by secondchances2014
Summary: Mercedes and Sam were cruelly ripped apart after their brief summer romance. Will they ever be able to find their way back to each other? Is it true that time heals all wounds or does the passage of time make people forget? Conclusion of trilogy repost.
1. Prologue

**_Originally written in May 2001 this is the concluding part of my trilogy (Never Saw It Coming and 40 Days of Summer which have already been posted recently as completed although all three fics can be read as stand-alone stories in their own right.) This one diverges the most from cannon as I'd already stopped watching the show when it was written and was only relying on things I'd heard and clips I'd seen. I'm going to change a few things in this repost like characters and song choices but it's essentially the same outcome (she says, giving away the ending! LOL!)_**

**_Disclaimer: Me no own Glee!_**

* * *

PROLOGUE (AKA Bringing everyone up to speed)

Sam sat in Kurt's kitchen, drinking chocolate milk and feeling miserable. It was his last day in Lima.

He liked being with Kurt. The smaller boy's calm manner had a soothing influence on him. They'd just been discussing how much he should tell the Glee club about his imminent departure.

Sam was quite happy to just vanish off the radar. He'd told Kurt the same day that he had broken the news to Mercedes. Broken everything with Mercedes in fact. It was horrible coming to the realization that the one person you could really talk to was the one person that you'd just had to let go. But Kurt was a good guy. He'd been there for him once before and he'd do it again. That's why Mercedes was his friend. And by some strange default he felt closer to her just by being near Kurt. They'd sat for nearly two hours outside the motel room on that Monday night, most of it in a comfortable silence. Kurt just being there for him. He nearly hadn't opened the motel room door when he'd heard the knock. They'd just brought his dad back from the hospital and they didn't want anyone to know what had happened.

_Flashback:_

_When the delicate tap on the door happened for the second time Sam finally moved to the window to see who it was. He saw Kurt's perfectly coiffed head craned towards him, smiling. A large cooler bag was clutched in his hand and he pointed to it._

_With a sigh Sam made his way to the door, opening it very slightly and sliding his way out, making sure that Kurt couldn't see into the room behind him._

_"Hey Sam!"_

_"Hi! Look, I'm sorry I can't ask you in but Stacy is asleep and both my parents are in so it's pretty cramped." He also couldn't forget his dad's cruel words about Kurt and didn't want them in the same room together._

_"No problem," he replied brightly, "I just came to drop this off for you." He held out the large cooler bag towards him._

_"What is it?"_

_"It's from Mrs Jones. They brought it by on their way to the airport saying they for forgot to give it to you earlier and they knew you wouldn't be back at the motel yet so they asked me to drop by this evening. It's just stuff from their fridge. Whenever they go away for more than a couple of days she gets paranoid and has to clear everything out of the fridge and switch it off before she leaves. Something about an unfortunate incident back in college days..."_

_"Thanks." Sam took the bag. It's not as if he could refuse hours after the event. And quite frankly they did need the stuff. He asked Kurt to wait while he took the bag in to his mom and returned quickly. The two then sat outside. Kurt looked at him intently._

_"Sam. Somethings up. I know it is. What is it?"_

_Sam felt his eyes stinging. No he wasn't going to cry again. He had cried more in the last 24 hours than he had in the last decade of his life. And for now there were no more tears left._

_But here was also no lying to Kurt._

_"We broke up."_

_"WHAT!"_

_Sam bent his head and rubbed the back of his neck._

_"SAM WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?" Angry Kurt was not a good sound. It hurt both his ears and his heart._

_"We're moving back to Tennessee next week." His voice wobbled and he closed his eyes. He'd thought there were no more tears left but clearly he was wrong. With a heavy sigh he rubbed his temple. His head had been throbbing all day. "You don't have any Advil do you?"_

_Kurt eyed him doubtfully but fished around in his satchel. People mocked when he carried a bag and yet they were always wanting things from it._

_Sam popped two tablets dry before continuing. "The short version is this. We have to get out of the motel. My crummy good for nothing dad hasn't worked at all for the last six weeks. He's been busy drinking the money that mom and I've been struggling to bring in. Then yesterday afternoon he got into an accident. Trashed the car and ended up in hospital. It's only by some stroke of luck that he didn't get arrested as well!"_

_Kurt's eyes bugged out. "Oh my god Sam! Is he okay?"_

_"Unfortunately yes. But they kept him in hospital overnight. Between that and the scans the cost was phenomenal. Plus the cost of fixing the car. It's totally tipped us over the edge."_

_"You should have brought the car to my dad's place!"_

_"True. To be honest I didn't think of it. But my mom has a contact through work and they're already sorting it. But what I'm trying to say is that we're now down to less than nothing. We had been trying to save for a deposit for a place but that's totally wiped out. There's now nothing left to pay for the motel room and we have to get out next week. The hospital called my grandparents as they're on dad's next of kin list and they're sorting the most of the medical fees for us. They also want us to move in with them to look after dad and we have no choice."_

_"So you're going back to Nashville?"_

_"Memphis actually. It's my dad's parents not my mom's."_

_"Oh hell... How did Cedes take it?"_

_"Not well. She was with me when the news broke last night and I filled her in on the rest this morning. She didn't want to go on this holiday to Florida. She wanted to stay with me but it's not her choice. And by the time she gets back I'll be gone-"_

_He choked on the final words and Kurt put a soothing hand on his friend's shoulder._

_Sam looked at him sadly. "We've been together less than six weeks. And we hardly got to see each other much during that time. Between me always at work and other stuff it's only been the equivalent of about 2 weeks of proper dating. To try and drag it out with the long distance thing would only be cruel and painful. She needs to be with somebody who can be right here for her. I need to let her go now before too much damage is done." He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. "It's the hardest decision I've ever made in my life. But I made the right decision didn't I?"_

_Kurt had no idea what to say in reply._

_Flashback ends._

Sam would tell Finn when he came home from work today. There was no sense in causing friction between the new brothers. The only other person he'd told about leaving was Quinn. She'd popped by to ask why the family hadn't been at church and he'd had to come up with some cruddy excuse. Luckily she bought the story of his dad getting a job. That was the official story they were telling people. The only ones who knew the truth were Kurt and Mercedes. He'd told them the truth of what had happened and the real reason they were leaving. But he could never tell them the truth about the hurtful and offensive things that his dad had said about them. The stuff that he would be too ashamed to ever repeat to another human soul. The man clearly didn't like the idea of him being with Mercedes and now he had his wish. He also didn't like his friendship with Kurt and that was going too. Sam didn't care that the man just had been in an accident and got hurt. He still hated him for it, for his ignorance and for the way that he'd hurt his own family.

There was just one other person he wanted to say goodbye to himself. That was Mike. Even though he was a quieter member of the group, Sam still felt an affiliation with him. They had chats and a shared sense of humor that could be conveyed with just a look but set them off into fits of side splitting laughter. Mike deserved a final manhug.

Kurt stayed quiet. He was texting furiously on his phone. Obviously to Blaine. Sam didn't care much about what he was saying. He didn't much care about anything at the moment. He'd thrown himself into working off his one week notice at the pizza place. By leaving the motel early they would get two nights cash refund which they would be used for gas money as well as allow them to buy food at the rest stops. The kids were excited about that part. They hadn't eaten out in months and a crappy highway diner was as exciting to them as a gourmet restaurant.

Life was never going to be the same again. Mercedes was on holiday in Florida while he and his family were putting together the final touches of their packing before heading off to Memphis.

"Sorry about that." Kurt finally put his phone down.

Sam shrugged. He'd been lost in his own thoughts for a while now anyway. Stacy had started playing up over the last week. Throwing tantrums about missing her friends and demanding to see Mercedes to say goodbye. It wasn't her fault. She was too young to understand. But a motel room is too small to be sharing with a kid throwing tantrums. He hoped that there wouldn't be any lasting damage. She'd struggled with saying goodbye to her friends in Nashville and making new ones in Lima. To make her do it all over again in Memphis was heartbreaking and she just didn't understand. He knew that if Mercedes was here she would sit her on her knee and reason with her and get through. He'd tried, but had been blocked by his own sadness and Stacy saw right through him.

He'd left the goodbyes for the last moment for a reason. There was no way he could pretend to be happy about a made up job for more than a day. And he didn't want anyone trying to organize and leaving events which would make him feel even more guilty about lying. He just wanted to go.

He _needed_ to go.

And he needed to put all aspects of his life in Lima Ohio behind him.

Memphis Tennessee and his uncertain future awaited him.

A future without one essential element.

Mercedes Jones.


	2. Blue Cheese Dressing

"Mercedes? What are you still doing in the kitchen? Are you hiding or something? I need you to come out! And while you're at it, I need you to bring that bowl of blue cheese dressing from the fridge with you!"

Mercedes was roused from her thoughts by the sound of her mom's voice. Yes she _was_ hiding in the kitchen. Everybody was outside in the yard enjoying the mountain of food springing from their grill. But she couldn't bring herself to join them. Sam and his family were supposed to be there. They'd been invited but they weren't here. And she didn't want to be either if Sam wasn't.

She thought back to this time precisely two weeks before. She would have just been about to reach the motel room.

And Sam.

With that expression on his face and the eyes darkened with desire.

When he'd made good every single one of his promises to make her feel beautiful.

And then some.

More than once alone in her bed she'd wondered how far they actually would have gone if they weren't interrupted. Now she would never know.

But the desire was still there.

Pandora's box had been opened and no amount of willpower could push it shut again.

She forced her mind onto other things. _Take the blue cheese dressing from the fridge…_

Mercedes hated blue cheese dressing. But her mom always made it. And everyone else always seemed to love it apart from her. On that issue she would stand alone. Or at least with Sam. He hated it too. And they both agreed it looked like as well as tasted like vomit.

She fought back the thought and the tears and clutched the covered bowl from the fridge.

She'd better go out. If her mom had to come in and get her there would be a whole world of trouble.

Yet it took heroic effort from every fiber of her being to force her lead like body to move. To leave the relative protection of the quiet kitchen and to go outside and be sociable. To talk, smile and laugh as if nothing was wrong. Because with the exception of her parents, as far everyone they knew nothing _was_ wrong. They had no idea that her heart had been ripped out of her chest by the first boy she'd ever loved and she was now reduced to an emotional shell.

One step in front of the other. Surely it couldn't be that difficult!

She took a deep breath and released it shakily before making her way out of the back door. She took in the sound of gentle chatter as she observed various members of her church starting to tuck into their food. This should have been such a lovely afternoon but something was missing.

Finally mustering up energy she didn't know she had, she walked over to the food table, set the bowl down and removed the plastic wrap from the top.

Her legs started to feel wobbly and she looked round for a seat, finally finding one next to aunt Esther, her 'not really' aunt, and employer for the summer.

"It's a lovely spread isn't it!" stated the older woman excitedly.

Mercedes nodded in agreement. She didn't really feel like talking and had realized this was probably the the worst seat to have chosen to avoid conversation, or at least the listening to of one sided conversation! She would be having another dose of this tomorrow at work. Next time she would choose her seat more wisely but now it would look rude if she got up and walked off with no reason. Much as she really really wanted to!

Before long they were joined by her great nephew Shane.

"Is this seat taken?" He was indicating towards the empty seat next to her.

Mercedes shook her head no. He grinned and plonked himself down heavily into it.

She couldn't help notice that he had a huge dollop of the blue cheese dressing on the side of his plate.

It made her stomach want to turn.

He smiled at her brightly. "Hey I haven't had a chance to talk to you yet Mercedes. I wanted to tell you that your singing this morning was beautiful."

She smiled to herself. Actually yes, she had killed that hymn this morning. But only because the words had a new meaning to her together with an unknown passion.

Because while the hymn was actually for one of their elderly congregation members who had passed just a few days before. But she couldn't help but think of how the words also reminded her of Sam.

_Flashback to church that morning:_

_"And now, as we take a moment to remember our dear brother, Mercedes Jones will sing the hymn 'Blest Is The Tie That Binds'._

_Mercedes made her way to the front of the congregation. She was alone at the front of the choir, privileged to have been selected by the family to sing this song for them and nervous that she'd only had since the night before to practice._

_As the music began she closed her eyes and took a deep breath._

_Blest is the tie that binds Our hearts in Christian love  
The fellowship of kindred minds Is like to that above._

_Before our Father's throne We pour united prayers;  
Our fears, our hopes, our aims are one Our comforts and our cares._

_We share our mutual woes, Our mutual burdens bear;  
And often for each other flows The sympathizing tear._

_When we at death must part, How keen, how deep the pain!  
But we shall still be join'd in heart, And hope to meet again._

_From sorrow, toil, and pain. And sin we shall be free  
And perfect love and friendship reign Throughout eternity_

_Tears streamed down her face. To all in the congregation she was caught up in the sadness of the death and the words of the hymn._

_But she knew. She knew._

_She'd been mourning Sam like the death of a loved one. And she needed the hope. She needed the hope that maybe, just maybe, their perfect love and friendship could reign through eternity..._

_Flashback ends._

"You know you really do have an amazing voice."

Shane was still talking. She really had to stop zoning out when people spoke to her!

He rubbed his hand against his chin. "You know. You could go really far. I can definitely see you winning a Grammy. No wait- not just one Grammy, a whole handful of them!"

She shrugged. "I don't know."

"I do know. Mercedes, it's not just you that's beautiful, your voice is beautiful too. But you have to believe in it. And you need to surround yourself with people who believe in you if you want to really pursue your dreams."

She looked up at him. "You really think so?"

"I know so! When people see you all the time they can end up taking you granted." She tried not to think of Mr Schuester. "Sometimes it takes a fresh pair of eyes to see what's really there!"

Sam had been a fresh pair of eyes!

Shane _still_ hadn't finished talking. "We'll be seniors when we next go to school girl! You need to start thinking about your future plans!"

"My mind's been really busy lately. I've not been thinking much."

"Oh but you will!" He dipped a piece of cucumber into the blue cheese dressing and crunched it loudly while looking at her thoughtfully.

"Mercy! Your father needs you at the grill!"

For some reason she was suddenly relieved to be called away.

But before long she'd snuck off to be on her own again. This time her brother JJ came to find her.

_Flashback as they walked along the beach in Florida:_

_"Hey! I have nothing against the guy personally. He's into his sports and he's a great player of Halo. But I just hate seeing my baby sis upset like this. And whether it was his fault or not, the fact that he's gone is what's done this to you. And I'll always hate him for that- Why are you looking at me like that Mercy? I'm your brother. It's my job to feel like this!"_

_She hated that on some level she couldn't refute his logic. But she couldn't have her brother hating on Sam either. Exclusive right to that position belonged to her. And even she couldn't bring herself to._

_"Thanks for looking out for me JJ. But I'm a grown girl. I don't need you to try and protect me." She wiped away one of the tears that would suddenly appear spontaneously on her face. Some subconscious trigger having set her off once again._

_"Listen babygirl! Since the day you were born it's been my job as older brother to protect you. And it will continue until the day I die. It's not a role I'm going to relinquish so you'd better get used to it."_

_She nodded. Not having the energy to argue._

_Then she stared out at the sea, wishing that maybe she could take a long voyage somewhere and leave all this pain behind._

_She let him put his arm around her as they walked through the white sand._

_Ordinarily they would be fighting like cat and dog._

_But this time she would take the comfort from wherever it came._

_Flashback ends._

Sometimes Mercedes really hated having an older brother. For most of the time in Florida he'd been surprisingly good and supportive of her. Giving her hugs when she needed them and helping to protect the secret of why she had been so low. At the wedding he allowed himself to be the only guy she would take to the dance floor with. But other times he'd expressed anger at Sam for making his sister so sad. He probably thought it would help her to feel better. But it didn't.

She didn't want him to have bad feelings about Sam.

Only she was allowed to do that.

And strangely enough she didn't.

She'd a range of emotions towards Sam, depending on her own mood and what particular memories were going through her head at any given point in time.

What was the best way to describe her feelings at the moment?

She didn't know.

Sam would say that they were in a state of constant flux. He'd always been the one to find a sci-fi way of describing things and now she was starting to do the same.

* * *

"You made this pie? Damn girl! Some day you are going to make somebody a fine wife!"

"I doubt it!"

For such a huge guy, Shane had the insane ability to keep appearing from nowhere. She never seemed to hear him coming. This time he was carrying a bowl with a very nearly finished slice of her cherry pie in it. The same cherry pie that she'd baked when Sam's family had come round the Sunday after their return from New York.

She turned and saw JJ passing, on his way back to the table for his own second helping. "Yeah. I'm also starting to doubt that will ever happen," said her brother good naturedly. "She spent the whole time in Florida saying that she's sworn off men forever!" He chuckled before selecting the largest piece of pie and going to settle next to one of the younger, prettier members of the congregation.

"Forever? Well that's a shame!" Shane was smiling, but his eyes looked more than a little serious.

Somebody spilled a drink on the table and Mercedes ran to fetch a cloth.

Anything to get away from the comments of Shane and JJ...

* * *

**_Yes I hate blue cheese dressing and I'm not sorry!_**


	3. Monday

**_I wrote this fic when I was trying to reconcile how Mercedes could suddenly get with Shane, but as always they most definitely are NOT endgame. For those who read the previous incarnation of this fic, there changes to the Shane story from the original._**

**_Happy holidays to my anon reviewer Emma. Now that I've completed MJD I'll focus on this one as I have a deadline._**

* * *

Mercedes was feeling fed up. There'd only been three customers to the thrift store all morning and Aunt Esther had barely stopped talking to pause for breath.

Ordinarily that alone would have been enough to annoy her but two things had made it far worse.

Firstly this would be her first lunch break without Sam. She simply didn't know what to do with herself. She honestly didn't even feel like eating if he wasn't going to be there. The tupperware container of barbeque leftovers held no appeal whatsoever and she'd subconsciously packed enough for two without even realizing.

The second annoyance was Shane. He just kept hanging around all morning trying to find things to do when clearly there was nothing to be done, and every time she turned her head she felt that he was looking at her.

She watched the clock eagerly, waiting for her break to arrive. Now that there was no need to wait for Sam's pizza rush to die down there was no need for her to take her lunch so late. She had hoped that Shane would go first but he just kept hanging around until she eventually needed to go out and get some air.

"Is it ok if I take my break now auntie?"

"Of course dear." The old lady was concentrating hard on trying to untangle an old chain of pearls that seemed to have become welded together.

"Do you mind if I come with you?" Shane's voice suddenly came from behind, startling slightly. Damn! There he was again!

"Sure." She had no reason to say no. Besides, it was probably best not to be alone. She'd probably only end up sitting under their tree crying for the whole hour. "I'll just go get my stuff."

With a heavy heart she went to the back to retrieve her bag but was lifted on her return by the sight of a very flustered Kurt coming in through the front door.

"Hi aunt Esther!" he said brightly before holding his arms out to Mercedes with a big grin. He was looking even more dapper than usual and his eyes were shining. "Cedes! I thought I was too late! I came to suprise you and meet you for lunch!"

She ran into his arms. Kurt had been away for the weekend and she had really needed him. He was her only lifeline and tie to her relationship with Sam. He held her tightly, "I'm so sorry that I had to be away this of all weekends Cedes."

"Oh Kurt I've missed you so much!"

Shane moved to stand behind Mercedes, his eyes dark with suspicion. This guy was getting all up close and personal with the girl who had taken his fancy and who he had decided to stake a claim on but the jury was out on if he should be worried about this sudden threat or not. The smaller boy with the piercing eyes shot him a smile, breaking out of Mercedes' arms. "Hi! I don't believe we've been introduced! I'm Kurt!"

He took the hand that was offered. A firm handshake but the skin was suspiciously soft... "Hi i'm Shane."

Mercedes had initially seemed a little lost and glazed but she quickly regained her senses. "Shane is aunt Esther's great nephew. He's just moved to Lima from Boston and he's going to be joining us at McKinley in the fall. Kurt is one of my great friends from school that I was telling you about. Actually no, he is the greatest!"

Shane smiled but still wasn't entirely sure how to take that. The guy seemed as camp and effeminate as hell and he was 95% sure he had nothing to worry about. But sometimes i waws really difficult to tell these days... "Mercedes and I were just going to get some lunch."

"Oh-" Kurt shot Mercedes a worried look but she just shrugged.

She looked between both of them slightly anxious. "It's no problem. We can all go to the deli together. Shane wants to meet some of the guys so that by the time he starts school there'll be some familiar faces."

Kurt tried not to pout and forced a smile back up to the stranger who had intercepted his planned lunchtime catchup/comfort session. He held the door open for Shane to pass through first before linking arms with Mercedes as she drew level with him to go through the door. He jerked his head up towards Shane and whispered in hushed tone, "What does he know?"

"Nothing. And I plan to keep it that way. Sam and I will simply remain a summertime secret."

They headed down the street towards the deli and Kurt pulled her closer. "How are you doing? Really?"

"Not great."

"You know Sam asked me to look out for you."

"Who's Sam?"

Kurt was annoyed that Shane was trying to listen in to the conversation. "A friend who moved away," was his short reply.

Mercedes eyes widened and she gently shook her head. 'Come sleep over at my house tonight,' she mouthed and he nodded and changed the subject.

Throughout lunch they spoke about different things. Mercedes and Kurt filled Shane in on some of the finer details of life at McKinley high school. They spoke of sport and Glee and the challenges they were set to face as seniors.

A couple of times Kurt had excused himself to reply to texts on his phone. It was a new habit that was starting to annoy Mercedes but she didn't say it.

Shane leaned in close. "Who's he texting?"

"Blaine."

"And Blaine is?"

"His boyfriend."

"Oh right." Shane visibly shifted in his chair. Mercedes couldn't tell if it was because he had become more relaxed or more nervous. "Do you have a problem with that?"

"Of course not. It's all good to me!" But what he really thinking was twofold. Firstly, that this guy wasn't going to be competition after all so he could relax on that front. And second, for The Plan to work he needed to get the gay best friend on side!

Kurt finished with his phone, apologizing profusely for the millionth time.

Shane shot him what he hoped was a genuine smile. "So Kurt, as you're the first high school student I've met after Mercedes, I hope maybe we'll get to hang out sometime."

The boy seemed surprised. "Look," he said, "I'm not exactly cool. When you get to school you'll try out and will have no problem getting on to the football team. That's where things go pear shaped. Guys on the football team throw slushies at guys like me just to get their kicks."

Shane frowned his concern and leaned forward. "Well you hang out with Mercedes Jones who is both beautiful and cool which, by association, makes you cool too. And I'm sure I'm bigger than most of the football team so I've got your back!"

Kurt smiled nervously. "Thanks. I think!"

"So guys," Shane was back to rubbing his chin again, "What kind of plans do you all have for the future?"

Kurt perked up. "Well Blaine and I are going to move to New York for college. I need to be closer to Broadway! I'm already spending this summer composing a musical called Pip Pip Hooray which hopefully I can use in my college applications. From then on, it'll just be a matter of Kurt Hummel taking on the world! Or should I say, Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson! My first love is Broadway, but if that doesn't work out I can always fall back on fashion."

"Sounds like you have it all mapped out!"

"Yeah. I kind of do!"

"What about you Mercedes?"

She looked sad. "For a brief moment I thought I had it all mapped out, but now I'm not so sure."

"Hmmmm. Well like I said yesterday, you have to get a plan. I have my Plan all mapped out. I'm going to go to College back in Boston where I'll continue my football career. I intend to take my football to the highest level I possibly can. But I also want to have a beautiful wife beside me, supporting me every step of the way. I know guys don't normally say stuff like that in high school but I'm not a normal guy. I grew up with no dad and no siblings. I always wished I could be part of a big complete family with lots of kids, so my dream is to settle down with someone special and have lots of little cocoa babies."

Kurt's attempt at a suppressed snigger came out more like a snort and Mercedes had to whack him with her elbow. "Excuse my friend," she said in an embarassed tone, "I actually think that's really sweet. It's good that you know what you want. Much as I love kids, after life with pregnant Quinn I know I'd want to be properly settled before I even think about that! The way things are at the moment I'm still not even sure if I want to pursue my music or go with something else."

"But your music is amazing!" cried Shane.

"You've heard her sing?" Now Kurt was curious about this guy.

"Just yesterday in church. I swear I thought an angel had fallen to earth and landed in front of the chior!"

It was Mercedes' turn to snigger. "I know I did good, but angel is pushing it a bit far!"

"Nope!" smiled Kurt, "I can definitely see this guy's point." And although he hadn't been able to have lunch with Mercedes and discuss Sam like he had wanted to, it was good to finally see his friend with a flicker of a smile on her face.

* * *

**_MEANWHILE IN TENNESSEE..._**

Sam kissed his brother and sister goodnight and shut the door of his new room. His grandparents only had two spare rooms, so rather than share with the kids he'd been set up in his gramps' unused office. It wasn't a big room, but with the desk pushed to the far wall there was plently of space for his fold-out bed.

And after months of sharing that motel room, having any space where he could shut the door and be alone with his thoughts was a blessing.

It was far too early for sleep and his thoughts drifted, as they always did when he was alone, to Mercedes. It wasn't until he was unpacking his things that he realized they'd taken no photographs together while they were going out. They just hadn't thought to. They would always be seeing each other again in a few days. And now they were hundreds of miles apart and all he wanted to do was sit and stare at her beautiful face.

He hated to admit it but he could have kissed Rachel Berry. In a random and uncharacteristic act of kindness the week after prom, she'd bought him two copies of their official photograph. She'd said it was a gift but he also wondered if it was partly an apology for bringing Jesse. Regardless of what it was, he now owned a picture of him and Mercedes together, looking at their finest.

The first photograph his mom had stuck in an old frame, still pobably in a box somewhere from the move. She had been so proud of her son's first prom. The second copy was kept under his pillow. He had carefully folded back the right hand side of the picture where Rachel had been standing, leaving just the image of him and Mercedes. He was there, in his bolo tie, pulling a facial expression vaguely reminiscient of Macauley Culkin, while Mercedes was leaning up, lips puckered as if to kiss him on the cheek. Both had their eyes on the camera.

He remembered his thoughts at that precise moment. It had started as a typical boy poser, 'look at me I'm at prom with two girls'! But then it had inexplicably changed and a split second thought had entered his head to push Rachel to the side and move his face closer to Mercedes so that the kiss would connect. He hadn't meant anything by it. He'd just wanted to freak out Mercedes. They'd had so many belly laughs that night he was sure that would have brought out another one. Well, maybe after a hard diva slap first! At the time h'd thought he was only playing but maybe it had been the start of something more. But he never did have the guts to do it.

He thought of the way that she had felt in his arms and the way that intoxicating way that she smelled. His senses had been on overload during that time on the dance floor. All he ever had to do was close his eyes and he would be transported back to that night.

_They were sitting at the table, glasses of punch in hand, totally oblivious to the music and students around them:_

_"I had no idea you were such fun!" He hadn't meant to sound so shocked but that's how it had come out._

_Mercedes hadn't looked impressed by his statement and he struggled to redeem himself._

_"What I mean is- that I've never got to see this side of you!"_

_She smiled sadly. "There's many sides of me that people don't see. That's just the life that i lead, I blend into the background. The only sides people see of me are my diva side and my backside."_

_"Well I see your other side and I like it."_

_Her eyebrow raised. "What? My backside?"_

_"NO! I mean YES! I mean- Oh god..." he buried his face in his hands, embarassed beyond belief. Actually, by strange coincidence he did like her backside, but that wasn't what he'd been trying to say!_

_Mercedes laughed heartily, clearly enjoying his discomfort, her sense of humor far momre generous than he'd previously given her creditt for. She nudged him playfully. "Don't worry. I'm not offended. It's not as if anyone can miss my backside anyway!"_

_Sam was blushing furiously and he could tell she was enjoying the increase in his discomfort. "Stopit!" he cried. It was bad enough that he'd been struggling to look into her eyes all evening due to all that awesome cleaveage on display in that dress, but now she was reduced to just body parts and it was messing with his head! He opted for the safest option, changing the subject._

_"So how come we haven't really been friends before?"_

_She shrugged. "I guess we just move in different circles. Let's face it. If it wasn't for the fact that we have Glee in common, we would never be here at prom together. Hell, we probably would never have spoken two words together for the whole of our school lives."_

_"Possibly. And I raise my glass as a toast to the great bringer together known as Glee!" He took a sip of his drink and his face turned serious, "But we are friends from now on. Right?"_

_Mercedes had looked unsure._

_"Come on Mercedes, you've watched Avatar more times than any girl i've ever met before. You recognise my quotes from random sci-fi films. Hell, you've even admitted to actually owning some comics from when you were younger! You do realize that you are actually my dream girl! Quinn never came anywhere near that level of awesome. She found it all really boring. It would be wrong of us not to be friends after this!"_

_She had smiled at that, a part of her clearly not believing that he would ever make good of the words he had just said._

But she'd been wrong. And he'd been sooooo right. Even though that night he had called her his dream girl, in no way had he thought through what that had actually meant. In fact, it was weeks before he even remembered that he'd said those words.

He smiled as he touched the photo with his finger, tracing the outline of her face.

Prom had undoubtedly been one of the best nights of his life. He would never forget that it was the start of a special relationship. Oel ngati kameie set...

It was getting late. He had promised to get up early and get to work clearing out the yard. They were grateful to be in the home and wanted to be as useful as possible. Sam also enjoyed being outside. Much of the time he had spent with Mercedes had been outside, sitting under trees and the like.

They were sat together under a tree in New York. It was moments after their first kiss:

_Mercedes was giggling._

_"What's so funny?"_

_She simply shook her head but the more she tried to suppress the giggle the louder it became. The sound was like music to his ears._

_"What? Come on! You have to tell me!"_

_She finally composed herself. "I was just thinking - if someone had asked me a couple of months to describe Sam Evans' dream girl, I would never have described a heavy black girl with a tear stained face, a tongue dyed cherry red and a backside the size of the Empire State Building!"_

_His turn to chuckle. "First off, I don't ever want to hear you describing yourself as anything short of gorgeous. I seem to remember calling you my dream girl right back at Prom. Secondly, at the aforementioned prom, I may have unintentionally let slip that I liked your backside. Did you know Quinn had to hit me when you and Santana did River Deep Mountain High? It was right about when I moved up in the seats to get a better view. She thought I was looking at Santana but she was so wrong! If she could have read my mind she would have know that I was wishing at that moment that you had also been wearing a cheerleader skirt when you did the shake!"_

_"SAM!"_

_"And now we're together this is great! Because now i can openly stare instead of stealing sneaky glances."_

_"You used to stare?"_

_"You can ask Puck! He caught me once and I was so embarassed. I'll need to keep an eye on him though coz I know he stares too!"_

_"I think you're right there. But i'm pretty sure Lauren has that all under control."_

_"True. Which leaves me free to cop a feel whenever I like!"_

_Mercedes stared at him incredulously._

_He shrugged unapologetically. "What? If you weren't sitting on it i'd have already my first legitimate grab. I'm so looking forward to getting my hands on-"_

_"SAM! Are you always this potty mouthed?"_

_He grinned devilishly._

_Her facial expression was almost as scared as it was excited..._

As he climbed into bed, his mind moved forward again. This time to their first date.

_They were in the Lima Public Library's secret garden and there was not another soul around:_

_Sam suddenly stood from where they were seated under the tree, offereing his hand to Mercedes._

_She looked confused._

_"Mercedes, I just wanted to say you look beautiful today. Will you dance with me?"_

_She smile and allowed him to pull her up. The words sounded less nervous this time but equally sincere._

_"But Sam, we're outside and there's no music!"_

_"Shhhhh..."_

_He kissed her gently, then pulled her close, as always, breathing her in and filling his senses with her. His hands slowly made their way downwards from their location in the middle of her back. Before she knew it he was cupping her backside. Was there no end to this boy's obsession?_

_She tutted and reached behind to pull his hands back up to their original location. "This is our first date!" she chided "What kind of girl do you take me for?"_

_He sighed into her neck. "One that I have to struggle to keep my hands off every time I see her!"_

_She laughed then. That rich throaty laugh that turned him on so much._

_He pulled her closer so that she moulded into him, just as they had done when they had danced together on prom night. Then he started to hum an introduction. She recognized it immediately and smiled._

_They started to sway together to the imaginary beat. When it came to the verse, he sang very softly, almost a whisper, directly into her ear._

_When the rain is blowing in your face And the whole world is on your case  
__I could offer you a warm embrace To make you feel my love_

_When the evening shadows and the stars appear And there is noone there to dry your tears  
I could hold you for a million years To make you feel my love_

_I know you haven't made your mind up yet But I would never do you wrong  
I've known it from the moment that we met No doubt in my mind where you belong_

_Before he could start the next verse Mercedes took over the singing._

_I'd go hungry i'd go black and blue I'd go crawling down the avenue  
No, there's nothing that I wouldn't do To make you feel my love_

_The storms are raging on the rolling sea And on the highway of regret  
Though winds of change are blowing wild and free You ain't seen nothing like me yet_

_Sam came back in for the finale:_

_I could make you happy make your dreams come true Nothing that I wouldn't do G  
o to the ends of the Earth for you To make you feel my love,  
To make you feel my love_

_They stayed frozen together in their embrace for what felt like forever._

Sam's eyes were heavy with sleep and he pulled his sheets up around him.

Every night since leaving Lima he'd dreamed of Mercedes and tonight would be no different.

Tomorrow he would go to the library to use the internet. There was so much he wanted to say in his email to Mercedes and he really hoped that she had replied to his last one in the meantime.

* * *

_**Oel ngati kameie set = I see you now**_

_**I loved seeing Sam's face while he was watching the River Deep Mountain High performance. He most definitely could not keep his eyes to himself!**_

_**Obviously the song featured was Adele's Make You Feel My Love. **_

_**This chapter refers back to both my previous fics.**_


	4. Bad Decisions

It had been nearly a month since Sam had left and Mercedes was proud that she'd been putting on a much braver face to Kurt and her family. Both had been concerned for her in the first week after his departure. The spontaneous bouts of tears didn't help. But then she'd somehow managed to convince them that it they had only been together for a short period of time and no real damage had been done.

Her parents seemed to be buying it at last, but Kurt was a tougher cookie to crack. Sometimes he would just look at her really hard and she'd feel that he was boring into her brain to see what was really going on.

But she did know what she was doing. In order to move on she needed a sense of closure. She needed to lock away her feelings for Sam. And she did, in both a physical and emotional sense. She had an old musical jewelry box from when she was a little girl. Once upon a time, when it was opened, a small plastic ballerina figurine would spin in a circle to a very 'tinny' version of the 'Nutcracker.' The aforementioned figurine had been ripped out in an extreme moment of curiosity back when she was in single figures, and the music mechanism had suffered the same fate. But the lock and they key still worked.

After spending a good hour searching, she finally found the box, buried with some other memorabilia in the furthest corner underneath her bed. Amazingly it still had the key with it.

With a heavy heart she gathered her things together. Into the box went the things that reminded her of Sam: the flower that gave her after prom which had been pressed and kept in her diary, the till receipt from the first time they went to the Lima Bean together and he'd opened up to her about his weight then hugged her afterwards, the snow cone keychain he'd bought her in New York. There was also a collection of other small items that may have meant nothing to another person, such as the paper label from the bottle of sweet tea she drank on their first date, but to her held true and dear memories. As she gently placed each item into the box, she kissed them softly and caressed them fondly. It took her a while and a multitude of tears, but when it was done she placed the final item on top, the letter that Sam had written to her from Tennessee after she had failed to reply to his emails and messages. With a sigh she finally closed the box, turned the key in the lock and spent an hour just sitting and staring at it.

But where to put it? After giving it some thought she finally took a chair and put it on top of her closet, pushing it as far back as she could against the wall. Out of sight, but not necessarily out of mind, and definitely not gone forever.

She needed to reclaim her life back. She'd had no desire to see any of her Glee friends over the summer apart from Kurt, and even the idea of going shopping had lost its appeal. Days were spent at home curled up watching Avatar and the rest of Dr Who series. Nights were spent reading emails from Sam, the 'reply' box open, but no words forthcoming and the 'send' button never pressed. She knew all about his new life in Memphis, his grandparents, his siblings and even the fact that for some reason he was still struggling to make things right with his dad. She knew about the summer job he had because he was saving up for a computer and how Stacy was learning to dance in summer camp. How the dyslexia tutor he had was scary but somehow was doing something right because he felt that he was actually starting to understand things better. She knew all about how much he missed her, how sorry he was for the way things had ended and how much it would mean to him to hear even just one word from her. Just to know that she was doing okay and that her world was not falling apart like his was on the inside.

But she'd ripped the band-aid the day he left. It would be crazy for her to start picking at the scab now! It wasn't fair to reopen feelings in him that she was powerless to act on. It was hard enough dealing with her own feelings!

Her thoughts were interrupted by a text on her phone. It was from Shane.

Shane: Hey girl. Meeting some of your boys at Breadstix 2moro. Wanna hang?

She had to hand it to the guy. He knew how to network. Through Kurt he'd met Finn and through Finn he'd met the other Glee boys from the football team. Finn had also introduced her to Rachel and Kurt had introduced him to Blaine. Within weeks he'd met half of her friends and spent more time with them than she had! He was going to have no problem at all with not knowing anyone on the first day of school. As always however, she had no desire to hang with him at all.

Mercedes: Sorry. Maybe next time.

Shane: :o( U said that last time + time b4! One nite won't hurt. Where's your sense of fun?

Mercedes started her reply. She was annoyed that Shane implied that she wasn't fun. Sam had found her fun. Luckily she had the perfect excuse.

Mercedes: Getting hair done. No idea what time we'll finish.

Shane: Understood. Well if you're done by 6 come join. We'll give our verdict. ;o)

Mercedes: No promises

Shane: Not an outright no so I'll take that! ;o)

Mercedes huffed and threw the phone on to her bed. The boy was always inviting her to stuff and wouldn't take no for an answer. And she knew that if she kept replying he'd drag her into some long text conversation that she really didn't want to have.

* * *

"So how's your friend?"

"Which friend?" Mercedes was alone in the salon with Felicia who was sewing in the end of her new shorter length weave.

"The one with the lovely soft blond hair just like my fiancée. You know, the one that totally adores you?"

Mercedes wanted to jerk her head away but was more than aware that the woman still had a sharp needle in her hand. For a moment the question threw her when she realized that the woman was referring to Sam.

She suddenly recalled with horror that the afternoon Felicia had cut Sam's hair at her home, she'd been called away by her mom and there were at least ten minutes when she had been left alone with Sam. Her curiosity got the better of her. "What did he say to you?"

"Oh, nothing of consequence."

Felicia was an experienced hairdresser. She didn't need ten minutes to find out all about a person. It rarely took above three! "Your boy really loves having his hair played with. He practically purred while I was doing the cut!"

"He's not my boy!"

"Is he not? Coz the way you guys were looking across the bathroom at each other I could have sworn..." She purposely left the statement open ended, waiting for Mercedes to bite. It didn't take long.

"Ok so we liked each other for a bit but he moved back to Tennessee and that was that!"

"Not for you missy! I can see it all over your face."

Mercedes felt herself becoming defensive and angry. This was none of her business. She didn't even talk to Kurt about Sam anymore, why would she share anything with her hairdresser? A woman who would probably have no qualms in passing on the story the next time she was at someone's home spending six hours putting in a head of single plaits!

The needle was now a safe distance away and she turned her head. "There wasn't enough time for it to turn into anything. He moved away and we've both moved on. End of!"

The funky haired young woman didn't look convinced. She'd seen something in both of their eyes that day which had seemed beyond their years. Something that she had seen in the eyes of her fiancée and which had led her to fight for him tooth and nail for the last five years, despite the comments and the pressures, she WAS going to marry the man she loved regardless of what the rest of the world thought. But she could see Mercedes getting worked up and knew it wasn't worth making an issue of it so she wisely changed the subject. "So what have you planned to do tonight, now that your hair is _laid_!"

Mercedes shrugged. "I was just going to put a pizza on and watch a movie. Mom and dad are out on a date tonight and JJ went back last week."

Felicia stepped back from trimming her bangs and stared at her with disbelief. "Cedes I cannot believe I've just spent the last couple of hours making your hair look fierce for to just go home and eat frozen pizza! It's Saturday night for goodness sake. I refuse to believe nobody's invited you to do something. Even Andy's taking me out later!"

Mercedes thought it through as she gazed at her reflection. She _was_ looking good with the new style (lose a man, shorter hair, never thought it would happen to her but hey ho...), and the guys probably would give her some much needed attention. "Well I was invited to Breadstix tonight at 6..."

"Girl it's only 5.30! Your hair will be done in 5 minutes once I've sprayed some moisturizer on. Your outfit's fine and I hardly did any trimming so you haven't even got any hair on you! I can give you a ride there myself. I just need to sweep the floor first. Can you get a ride back?"

"Definitely. Puck or someone will do it."

"So who else is going?"

"Shane says some of the guys from school."

"Shane? Isn't he the kid that's aunt Esther's whatever?"

"Great nephew? Yeah."

"Don't you find him a bit - I don't know... intense?"

Mercedes smiled. "I know what you mean but no. I just think he's new to the area and trying to make friends as quickly as possible. He had to leave behind his whole life in Boston and start from scratch here. It must be really hard."

"I suppose so. I guess I was watching him at church and he really seems to stare a lot."

"Stare?" Mercedes laughed. "Maybe he needs glasses! He plays football so he'd going to have to sort that out before the new semester starts and he meets coach Bieste!"

"We'll I've not really spoken to him. As long as you say he's okay I'm sure he's perfectly normal. There… you're finished."

Mercedes blinked as the cloud of spray around her eyes and nose finally cleared and she came face to face with her new hair. It was a full head weave as usual but thus time with shoulder length bone straight bangs along with her trademark fringe.

Then she pulled out her phone to text Shane.

Mercedes: Okay, count me in.

* * *

Mercedes climbed out of Felicia's car and walked into Breadstix at ten past six. After scouring the big tables she finally saw Shane and Artie at one of the small ones. She smiled at Shane and flung her arms around Artie. She hadn't seen him since school broke up and until that moment hadn't realized just how pleased she was to see him. He looked really well. She took the seat next to him and as he whistled his approval of her new look.

"You look smokin' Cedes!" he grinned.

Shane nodded. "Yep you do look beautiful." He looked at her harder before adding, "But I definitely like you with long hair more." Artie frowned at the bigger boy's instant dismissal of her new look but he appeared not to take the hint. Mercedes seemed to miss the comment too because she was busy looking at their half-eaten plates.

"I guess you were here earlier than six!"

Shane looked sheepish while Artie spoke. "Shane asked me this morning if I was up for a gaming session today so we've been holed up in my den 'til about an hour ago. He suggested we grab something to eat then a movie."

"And where's everyone else?"

Artie looked questioningly at Shane. "It's just been the two of us all day. I didn't even know Cedes was coming until-"

Shane shut him down. "This was just a last minute thing. Do you want me to order you some food?"

Mercedes shook her head, confused but not hungry, "I'll just get some breadsticks." She always ate well before getting her hair done, knowing it could take several hours.

"Are you coming to the movies with us?" Artie still looked really pleased to see her.

Mercedes smiled at him. "Sure why not."

"I'm getting picked up at the theatre."

"Cool. Maybe I can get a ride home with you. I got dropped off straight here from the salon so I don't have my car."

"I can drop you home," offered Shane. Both Artie and Mercedes chose to ignore the fact that he'd butted into their conversation.

While Shane tried to get the attention of the waiter to order Mercedes' breadsticks, she turned to Artie and asked, "So, your summer so far... Fill me in..."

He grinned back at her. "Well, actually... there's this girl I met online..."

* * *

The movie was an action epic that didn't really move Mercedes but she was glad for the distraction of having been out. Unfortunately, not long after it started she developed a pounding headache. By the end even Artie looked tired and his ride arrived at the back entrance of the movie theatre within ten minutes of the finish.

"Are you sure you don't want a ride?" he asked as his chair was being folded and put into the trunk while he fastened his seatbelt.

_Not part of the Plan!_ Before she had a chance to answer, Mercedes felt a protective arm around her shoulder and Shane had replied for her. "Don't worry. I've got this."

Artie nodded and the car pulled away. Shane looked like he considered leaving his arm where it was before wisely letting it drop. They headed together towards the main parking lot where he was parked.

"Do you want to grab an icecream or something?"

She shook her head. "No. I really should be getting back. I think I need to go to sleep. My head hurts."

He looked disappointed but they headed back to his car.

The ride home was short and quiet. He looked like he wanted to say something and as Mercedes had no conversation to make, she was happy for him to be the one to make the effort and come out and say something. So they sat in a companionable silence. Once outside her home, he insisted on opening her car door and walking her to her front door. The lack of lights told her that her parents weren't yet back from their date. At the door things got awkward. How exactly was she supposed to say goodbye? A handshake would be too formal and he was so tall that if she suddenly reached up to give him a peck on the cheek, a whole heap of things could potentially go wrong.

Her key was in her hand and halfway into the lock before she heard his voice.

"Mercedes. I need to ask you something."

She turned and gave him her full attention. She suspected she knew what this was going to be and was mentally scrambling around in her brain for an answer that would let him down gently but she had to let him actually say it first.

He took a deep breath. "I really like you. I think you're beautiful inside and out and I was wondering if one day we could go on a proper date. Just the two of us." He could almost sense the fear in her eyes.

"Shane- I don't know what to say… I-"

It wasn't the outright 'yes' that he'd been hoping for, but it wasn't an instant 'no' either... He decided to go smoother... "Look Cedes, I'm not trying to be weird, I just wanted to let you know that I like you and just want the chance to spend some time with you. Just once. Just a meal. No obligation. You don't even have to decide now if you can't."

She was biting her bottom lip with a worried expression and he almost felt sorry for her. She should have been flattered for the attention. What was holding her back? "Why don't you just go inside and think about it. Take the whole day tomorrow and tell me on Monday. If the answer's no then I promise I'll back off. But if it's yes you'll make me a really happy guy."

She was stood, frozen to the spot. He took the fact that she wasn't running or screaming which is a major good sign...

"I can tell you on Monday?" her voice was quiet and unsure.

"Yep. Monday. No pressure."

She nodded silently and played nervously with her keys.

"In the meantime, I was kind of jealous of that big hug you gave Artie and was hoping that at least you could..." He was relieved to finally draw a shy smile from her and he opened his arms and pulled her in for a hug.

Shane knew he gave good hugs but was careful not to linger too long. He didn't want her to think he was creepy! But damn she felt good, even if she did smell like an afro hair salon! Yes he definitely preferred the longer hair but there'd be plenty of time to fix that...

He reluctantly released her saying, "Now get in that front door. I want to hear it shut properly before I leave!"

She nodded and without another word went inside.

* * *

Mercedes didn't sleep a wink that night, her mind playing Shane's words over and over. Sixteen years of no interest and then two guys within the last couple of months! Had she really changed that much?

Subconsciously she'd pretty much known from the start that he liked her. He managed to somehow tell her she was beautiful every time he saw her. Each Sunday at church he was friendly and each Monday at work he was more than attentive. And she hadn't missed the looks that aunt Esther gave them. At the very least they would be making an old lady very happy.

By 3am her head was still pounding and nausea had set in. She barely made it to the bathroom before vomiting up what remained of the breadsticks. By the time that she'd cleaned herself up and come out through the door she was surprised to see her mother on the other side of it.

"Are you ok?" She asked, "I heard you running to the bathroom."

Mercedes shook her head.

Her mother pulled her into an embrace before feeling the heat coming from her daughter's skin. "Mercy you have a fever! You need to go straight back to bed!"

She nodded weakly and allowed herself to be led back to bed. Her mom brought her some medicine to take and checked her with the thermometer. "You've had worse, but I'm going to keep an eye on you. If you're not feeling better in the morning I'll call the doctor."

Mercedes drank half the glass of water that her mother insisted she swallow to prevent dehydration before finally falling into a fitful sleep.

_They were standing in the desert, the sun beating down heavily on them. Sam was dressed in flowing white robes that were flapping gently in the breeze. He was holding on to her and his voice was strong and true._

_The location was different but the words were the same._

_"You'll meet someone. Someone with a good heart. Someone who thinks you're beautiful. Who sees your beauty the way I see it. Someone who realizes that your smile has the ability to make them feel like a million dollars. You'll move on. Just as long as you promise to never forget me."_

_"How can I? They say the first cut is the deepest." She held on to him tightly. But her tightest grip was not enough. Try as she might she felt Sam slipping through her fingers, melting into sand which became dust which scattered into the wind._

_She collapsed to the ground, sobbing, not caring that the sun was still beating down on her. Not caring that it would eventually roast her to death. What did it matter? Sam was not here anymore._

_Suddenly she felt a cool shadow fall across her. She looked up and met Shane's eyes._

_"What do YOU want?" Her tone was harsh and bitter. She was hurting. Why could no-one understand this?_

_"I want to help you. I want to be here for you. But you have to let me. You're too beautiful to be so sad."_

_He reached for her but she started to pummel him with her fists. "I don't want you! I want my beautiful boy with the golden hair, the kryptonite eyes and the lopsided smile!"_

_"But he's gone now. But I'm here. Let me help you get through this." He silently pulled her into a firm embrace._

_And damned if it didn't feel a little bit comforting..._

* * *

She could see the sunrise through her partially open curtains. Her bedclothes were strewn and her hair slightly matted.

Sam's name was on her lips and a hole was in her heart. After struggling to find a cool spot on her pillow she eventually slipped away again...

* * *

She and Sam were in the Tardis. And they were dancing around the wide space surrounding the controls. Dancing to no music. But somehow that was ok. Their laughter and kisses was all the music they needed.

Suddenly there was an almighty CRASH!

Sam ran from her arms, pulling knobs, pushing levers and yanking the information screen closer for a better view.

"Sam what's happening?"

His brow was knit and he was totally focused on the task in hand.

"Sam? Talk to me!"

The shaky movements finally stopped.

She looked over at him and he was fingering the controls sadly. He looked up at her and his eyes were sadder than she'd ever seen them before. Something was wrong.

She went to move towards him.

"No! Stay back!" He'd never shouted at her like that before and she felt hurt. "Don't come any closer!"

She wanted to come be mad at him for shouting but she could see the pain in his eyes.

"Mercy, I'm so sorry but I have to go now and I'm not going to see you again. Not like this!"

She didn't understand. Was he breaking up with her? Things were fine five minutes ago!

He continued, "At least not with this daft old face!"

"But I love your fa-"

Sam groaned and doubled over, clutching his stomach as if in literal pain.

She tried to go towards him but he screamed at her again. "STAY BACK!"

He leaned heavily against the controls and smiled up at her weakly. "Before I go I just wanted to say one more time how beautiful you are. And that you were fantastic. Absolutely fantastic!"

What was with the past tense and where exactly was he going?

Before she could get her questions out he'd stepped away from the controls. Suddenly his body contorted, his head and arms thrown back.

She tried to go towards him but she was pushed away by the bright yellow light that suddenly flowed out from his head and arms.

Unable to tear her gaze away she watched as he slowly grew taller and broader, yellow light continuing to pour from the exposed parts of his body.

What had happened to her Sam?

The light finally stopped and he brought his head forward. Only it wasn't his head anymore. It wasn't Sam. It was some huge black dude with a moustache!

The new guy looked at her and smiled at her brightly. "Hello! I'm Shane-" He stopped, his expression confused, his tongue roaming around his own mouth. "_New teeth!_ That's weird!"

Mercedes was speechless.

The new guy just smiled even more brightly and held out his arms. "So- where were we?"

* * *

It was midafternoon before Mercedes felt well enough to go downstairs. Her mom re-checked her temperature and the fever was definitely gone. She felt that she was returning back to normal. Maybe it was just some 24 hour bug. Her weave on the other hand hadn't fared so well considering she'd spent most of the night sweating under it and hadn't had the energy to wrap her hair before eventually falling asleep.

After some soup she returned to her room and switched on her computer. There was yet another email from Sam. He'd finally bought his computer (just a secondhand laptop) and had just finished setting it up so he could now mail her from home and chat on Skype.

Again she sat with the reply box open. But the first time she actually began to type.

"I miss you so much Sam, you have no idea. I wish you were here. I need to talk to you about someth' she was interrupted by a knock on her door. Her dad stuck his head around. "Hey babygirl! Just wanted to see how you were feeling."

"Better thanks!"

"I'm glad. Make sure you still get lots of rest. If you want me to call aunt Esther and tell her you can't work tomorrow I will."

"Thanks dad. But I'm sure I'll be okay by then."

"Cool. Everyone at church sends their love." He then smiled at her and left her in peace. She'd forgotten about work tomorrow. That meant she'd be seeing Shane in the morning. And she needed to have her answer by then! She sat back down at the computer. When her had had knocked she'd grabbed a pot of cocoa butter as the fever had made her skin go ashy and she was absentmindedly fingering it while lost in her thoughts.

She was suddenly roused from them by the sound of her phone buzzing with a text. She'd been so deep in thought that she had jerked to life and dropped the pot, watching it roll along the floor. She sighed, resolved to pick it up later.

Shane: Missed you today at church. Hope you're OK. No pressure x

So if there's no pressure why the hell are you texting me?

She returned to her computer and the sight on it made her blood ran cold. The box on her screen read 'Your message has been sent to the above recipient: SamIAm95'

The pot must have hit the keyboard before it rolled on to the floor...

Before she even had a chance to react her phone was ringing in her hand. She'd saved the contact while she was in Florida. It was Sam's new number. She'd listened to every one of his voicemails over and over but never had the courage to call him back.

She couldn't reject the call but neither could she answer it. She decided to let it ring until it hit voicemail.

Clearly he was online. But her message was never supposed to have been sent!

Luckily she was not logged in to either Skype or MSN.

The phone rang a second time and she shoved the phone under her pillow to drown out the sound, tears streaming down her face.

She wanted to answer it so badly but she couldn't. Not now. Especially not now! What would he think of her?

It didn't ring a third time but after a moment it did beep with a voicemail.

What would Sam say about Shane?

Surely they would like each other if they met? He seemed to get on OK with the rest of the Glee club.

She hadn't just dreamed it. Sam had definitely told her she should be with someone who thought she was beautiful. And Shane told her pretty much every time she saw him that he thought she was.

But when she was with Shane she felt nothing. Whereas with Sam she felt everything.

Then again surely being with somebody was better than being with nobody! Maybe Shane really could be just like a regenerated version of Sam. Rose Tyler had manage with the transition between Timelords. Sam of all people would understand what she was going to do.

She couldn't face another year of school being the only one that was single. A whole year of playing the spare wheel to Kurt and Blaine and a Valentines Day and prom spent alone. She wasn't ready to go back to that dark place. Not yet anyway.

On the other hand, at least nobody knew about her and Sam. They wouldn't know that things had changed for her over the summer. She could go back to being anonymous Mercedes. Maybe she didn't need Shane.

But then she remembered. That night at the fairground! Jacob Ben Israel! She'd always flown pretty much under his radar until now. Come the first day of school however, and he would blab to the world what he'd see and who he'd seen her with! Nothing would be able to shake him off that story. And there was no way she was in any shape to deal with the fallout from it.

There was only one way to fight fire... She needed to go back to school with her own even bigger story.

Maybe Shane _could_ be of use. Just until the first few weeks of school were over and rumors were forgotten.

People could see in it whatever they chose to see, but only she knew what was really going on in her heart.

In a moment of perceived clarity she knew what she was going to do.

Taking the phone from under the pillow, she hit 'ignore' on Sam's voicemail and quickly typed her three word reply to Shane hitting the 'send' button before she had a chance to talk herself out of it.

Mercedes: Where and when?

She curled into a fetal position on the bed and let the tears flow in earnest.

_Oh my god! What had she just gone and done..._

* * *

It had been an agonizingly long week for Shane to wait after he received her text. But finally Saturday had come round again and here he was sat across the table from her in the small Thai restaurant that he had let Mercedes choose. He didn't like Thai food but he would let it ride just this once. It was a means to an end. Once he'd got her to return to the long hair and lose those dreadful zebra print pants she'd be exactly how he wanted her.

He'd known from the day he set eyes on her that he wanted her, and from the moment she opened her mouth to sing in church he knew he wanted to marry her. She fit in to his Plan so perfectly. She was gorgeous and talented. The perfect trophy wife.

He hadn't been lying when he said that he wanted to marry and have kids. He did. He wanted to have it all. And his plan was to get it all. For a sportsman like him, girls would always come and go, but there should always be someone to come home to at the end of the day. Somebody solid and respected. Much as he loved bimbos, they were and only ever would be, good for one thing. Whereas a good wife is good for many things. And a successful wife, well, that was even better. He saw the talent of Mercedes Jones and knew it would go far. But once she was famous she would never look at him twice. He knew he wasn't the best looking guy in the world, but growing up in a female household meant that he more than made up for it with charm and charisma. He had to get her and lock her down _before _she got famous. To make her feel a sense of debt and gratitude to him.

Even after his sporting career ends, he would still have the limelight of being with a star, and all of the perks such a lifestyle could bring. And even if in the future things went wrong and his roving eye eventually caught up with him, he would still have the legacy of his famous family.

He would push her to the top and ride the crest of popularity with her. But before she became too big the babies would start. To bring her focus back to home where she should be, rather than lapping up the adoration of the rest of the world. After all, she was just a woman. And _his_ woman at that!

Yes, a lot of thought had gone into his Plan. His world had been rocked when he was a child and he never wanted that to happen again. He wanted security and for that to happen he had to _make_ it happen. There was no such thing as a perfect woman. You had to mold her into what you wanted her to become. And over the years he'd become good at molding people to his whims without them realizing it. All he had to do was ease her away from all the people that were holding her back and push her in a new direction.

She didn't need anybody except him. From now on he would be her world. He would take charge and he would make her into the best she could possibly ever be. She would be grateful and she would adore him for it. And as the person who stood by her from the beginning she would be obligated not to leave him.

He smiled at her across the table and she smiled nervously back at him. Her eyes were incredible. So innocent. Yes Mercedes Jones was exactly what he'd been looking for. This move to Lima was the best move he had ever made.

Dinner was relaxed and he did his best to put her at ease. Afterwards they went for a walk and spoke about their respective lives and childhoods. Before long he was walking her back to her front door.

* * *

Mercedes felt her stomach rise into her throat as they approached her front door. What happens now? By the look on his face he's going to go in for the kiss...

"Mercedes. Don't look so scared! I was going to ask if I could kiss you but don't worry. We don't have to!"

Now she felt terrible.

"No! Sorry. I was just feeling nervous. Of course you can kiss me."

As she saw that awful moustache heading towards her she had to close her eyes.

The kiss was very short and soft. And it was...

… not as bad as she thought it was going to be. It wasn't horrible but it didn't rock her world either. Only one person's kisses could do that. And she felt like she'd just cheated on him.

"Goodnight Shane," she quickly said as she hurriedly opened the door and made her way out of his line of sight.

Once the door was closed she leaned against it and sighed heavily.

_Oh my god! What have I just done..._

* * *

**_Obviously no Dr Who copywright infringement intended but yes the dream was based on the regeneration of 9 into 10. This fever dream thing seems to be a running theme with me. _**

**_I don't think I can ever truly understand Mercedes' actions. We all deal with hurt differently. Some ignore and some go into denial. At this point she and Shane are both using each other bur obviously the motives of one are far more sinister. _**

**_But don't worry. Next chapter is Sam's POV and then we're back to school!_**


	5. Missing You

_**Don't worry, you'll soon find out that nobody in this fic likes Shane. For now, here's a Shane free chapter with some fluffy Samcedes memories to boot!**_

* * *

Sam really enjoyed working in the garden at his grandparent's house. He got to spend lots of time outside in the glorious weather and the work was really good exercise keeping him trim. The stress of the move had led him to face the strong temptation to comfort eat like he used to do when he was younger but he refused to let it take hold of him this time, training himself to enjoy the rush of adrenaline more than the rush of sugar.

Mercedes had called him her Adonis and he was determined to keep up the shape. It gave him a focus and a motivation because he missed her so much and could think of nothing else.

One of the perks of being in their new home was the bathroom situation. Instead of the rundown motel bathroom, he now had use of a freshly refurbished ground floor one which he shared with only his siblings. And he no longer had to worry about the cost of hot water and it running out.

Because Sam Evans loved showers. They were the only place where he would succumb to his singing before joining the Glee club. And while they were in the motel room it was the only place that he was guaranteed five minutes peace to think without any interruption. Luckily for him, only months earlier his grandparents had had a power shower installed in the guest bathroom that he was now using. To have the hot water pummel his body after hours of shoveling in the garden was one of the greatest feelings in the world. It was like having a fantastic massage and gave his mind the opportunity to think back to happier times.

**_Flashback begins:_**

_They're squashed together on the sofa watching Doctor Who. Sam reaches back to press a spot behind his left shoulder and winces when his fingers meet the knotted muscles._

_Mercedes frowns. "What's up Sam?"_

_"Nothing. Just a bit tense and knotted up." Working long hours and sleeping on a folding bed were definitely taking their toll._

_"Do you need a massage?"_

_The idea of that was more than tempting. Mercedes smiled and indicated that he sit on the floor in front of her. She parted her legs so that he could sit back flush against the sofa and be at close to her as possible, pressing her knees either side of him._

_He chuckled. Between Mercedes' knees was a place he hoped he was going to be a lot more often in the future. And even where he was right now - if only she was wearing a skirt instead of jeans. All he would have to do is turn his head and-_

_"What's so funny?" His highly inappropriate thoughts were interrupted by the girl herself and he had to quickly regain focus and think fast._

_"My shirt!"_

_"Your shirt?"_

_"Yeah. A massage would be so much better if I wasn't wearing my shirt, but as your dad could potentially walk in any moment I don't think that's the world's greatest idea."_

_She joined the chuckle. "So true..." But she couldn't hide the disappointment in her voice. She smacked him gently, "We have to behave!"_

_Her massage was like a little slice of heaven. Painful and pleasurable at the same time. She worked underneath his shoulder blades which were particularly knotted before moving up to the back of his neck. Once she reached the bare skin at the collar of his shirt, she followed the strokes of her fingers with soft kisses. She placed them at the back of his neck, along his jaw and behind his earlobes. Her hair fell over his shoulder as she leaned forward, tickling his arm with her curls while her cocoa butter scent filled his senses. And he couldn't help but feel her breasts lightly press against his back as she leaned forward to caress him._

_Sam knew that if he turned his head to face her it would be his undoing so he stayed perfectly still, letting out quiet contented moans._

_They'd had to eventually find the remote and restart that particular episode again from the beginning..._

**_Flashback ends._**

But the pain in his chest doesn't.

Sam returned to his room freshly showered and wearing the same navy blue pajamas that Mercedes hadn't been able to take her eyes off the night he was sick. Because that night Sam had only ill. He wasn't blind!

He sat in front of his opened laptop and moved his finger along the mouse pad in order to reactivate the screen which was still open on Facebook. For the last few weeks he'd been trying to work out if he should reactivate his old account or start a new one from scratch. The disadvantage of reopening the old one was that as well as his Glee friends it also had friends from his old school. He didn't know if they knew about his situation and he didn't want to know. Their lives were all centered around money and now that his situation had changed he didn't want to be mocked or even pitied by them. But to start a new account would mean his friends list would be back down to zero. There were people he wanted to stay in touch with, but...

He opted to create a new account. The worst that could happen was that he would have to check two different accounts. But for now he would start a new one while still considering reactivating the old. There was no way he could start a new high school without a Facebook account.

But in what name? There was one person he wanted to connect with before adding others. But he knew if he used his own name, others in Glee would see the notification and send friend requests of their own. And he could always change it when he was ready. He thought long and hard before he came up with one.

Within minutes a notification flashed up on his screen 'Kurt Hummel has accepted your friend request.'

Moments later a chat box opened.

Kurt Hummel says: Is that you Sam?

Eliza Doolittle says: Damn! You got me! :o)

Kurt Hummel says: LOL!

Kurt Hummel says: I thought you swore you would _never_ make reference to the fact that I made you watch My Fair Lady!

Eliza Doolittle says: True. But in my defens I was sleep for most of it!

Kurt Hummel says: I knew I should have poked you more!

Eliza Doolittle says: Hey, dont forget - whatever hapens in Vegas...

Kurt Hummel says: I won't tell a soul!

Eliza Doolittle says: Thats good to kno.

Eliza Doolittle says: So how you bin?

Kurt Hummel says: I'm good. How about you? Not heard from you since the move.

Eliza Doolittle says: Is pretty cool here. I have my own room and jsut got own laptop.

Eliza Doolittle says: Plus working a summer job in a burger joint. Less hours and i get to keep all money for school and gas.

Kurt Hummel says: Thats great. Hows the family?

Eliza Doolittle says: Mom looks less tyred and kids think is all a big adventur.

Kurt Hummel says: And your dad?

Eliza Doolittle says: All healed up and gos to AA meetings.

Kurt Hummel says: That's really good to know.

Eliza Doolittle says: Hows Lima? Hows Blaines show?

Kurt Hummel says: Lima never changes and the show at 6 Flags is coming to an end soon.

Eliza Doolittle says: And Pip Pip Huuray?

Kurt Hummel says: It's Pip Pip Hold me back !'m ready to hit Broadway! ;oD

Eliza Doolittle says: Glad is goin well.

There was a pause in their typing.

Eliza Doolittle says: And Fin! Hows Finn?

Kurt Hummel says: He's fine. Rachel's still driving him nuts. I'm not really sure if he knows what he's doing with this relationship.

There was another, slightly longer pause.

How could they be States apart yet there still be a huge elephant in the room?

Sam began to type...

* * *

**_Kurt's POV:_**

Kurt stared at the two words that had appeared on the screen in front of him.

He hadn't thought twice about accepting Sam's Facebook friend request or starting the chat conversation. It was only a little way in that he realized how the conversation would turn and he hadn't yet had the chance to mentally prepare himself.

He leaned his elbows forward onto the computer desk, cupped his mouth with his hands and released his deep breath slowly and loudly.

This wasn't going to be easy.

He stared at the two words on the screen.

Eliza Doolittle says: Hows Mercedes?

Good question. How _was_ Mercedes?

Kurt was sure that she'd been doing her best to avoid him. That in itself was already enough to cause alarm. But what he hadn't told another soul was that a few days ago, while he was out on a movie date with Blaine, he'd seen her at the same theatre, a few rows ahead of them, holding hands with Shane!

At the time he had felt a righteous indignation, but Blaine had wisely held him back from going and confronting them. It was neither the time nor the place.

It was bad enough that she was seeing somebody else so soon after Sam. She clearly was badly hurt by the breakup and keeping herself in some form of denial, but this Shane guy was so not right for her. He was a big, bumbling crime against fashion and that stupid moustache really needed to go. It's not that he had been horrible to Kurt. On the contrary, he'd been almost creepily _too _interested him like he was trying to worm his way into his affections or something. But seriously, what _was_ she thinking moving from the wingless angel that was Sam Evans to this unknown who the jury was still out on?

Kurt realized that he needed to type something. Sam would be wondering what the pause was about.

But what should he say? He couldn't say simply say 'fine'. Because he knew that she wasn't. She'd cried for hours in his arms when she got back from Florida. And now she was rebounding with some freak who happened to be in the right place at the right time. He hadn't come across anyone who was any _less _fine given the situation. In the end he opted for something more diplomatic.

Kurt Hummel says: She's not herself

And that was the honest answer. First she'd started avoiding him and now she was dating a freak. Neither of these were the Mercedes Jones that he knew and loved. Especially when he had seen first-hand how crazy she was about Sam.

Eliza Doolittle says: What do you mean?

Sam's reply was lightning fast, again leaving him no time to think!

Kurt Hummel says: She's keeping all her hurt locked up inside instead of sharing. She's trying to avoid me and won't let me help her

When Kurt hit the 'send' button he hoped he hadn't said too much. But at the same time, he knew he owed it to Sam's friendship to be honest with him.

Eliza Doolittle says: She's avoidng me too. Tried calling n emailing. Not trying to start something. Just want to kno shes ok. We were friends too! I'm worried.

Kurt felt sad for his friend. He knew that behavior had to hurt.

Kurt Hummel says: Don't worry. We'll look out for her for you

Kurt Hummel says: I'll try and speak to her for you

* * *

**_Sam's POV_**

Sam released a long sigh when he read the reply and hoped that Kurt would have a better chance of getting through to her than he had. He was about to type again when his thoughts were interrupted by the sound of his mom outside his door. She stuck her head around it and glared at him angrily.

"Sam! I've been calling you for the last five minutes! Dinner's on the table and we're waiting!"

He'd been completely oblivious. "Sorry mom, I didn't hear."

"Well you need to come NOW!"

"Sure, I'll just shut down-"

"No, NOW Sam! Everyone's waiting."

"OK mom. I'm right behind you!"

As he stood he continued to type

Eliza Doolittle says: Called away to dinner – chat soon!

And then he had to go...


	6. Back To School

_**The Glee club are amazingly intuitive...**_

* * *

Mercedes couldn't believe how quickly the new semester had come around. Before she knew it she was preparing to leave for her first day back at school. Her first day as a senior. She'd just been about to collect her car keys when there was a knock at the door. It was Shane.

"Hey baby," he breathed, reaching down to kiss her nose.

"Hey yourself. What are you doing here?"

"I've come to give you a ride to school!"

"But I always drive myself."

"But now you have me, so now you don't need to anymore!"

Mercedes actually liked making her own way to school. But there wasn't time to argue this one out, she had wanted to get in early so she shrugged her annoyance aside, forced a smile and grabbed her rucksack her room.

He was already outside with the engine started and he smiled as she climbed into the passenger seat. "I see you took my advice about the long hair. Good girl!"

Mercedes said nothing. She wasn't quite sure about his tone when he said 'good girl' and she'd had a really hard time convincing Felicia that the change in style was really her decision. After all, who changes a weave after less than four weeks!

Arrival at school was as she expected. She had barely made it up the stairs before being cornered by Jacob Ben Israel. But she was ready for him, quickly dismissing what he had thought was the scoop on Sam and providing him with an exclusive, the new man in her life. She even remembered to use the words future plans for Shane's benefit!

And it had exactly the anticipated effect. To shock JBI so much that it got him off her back. But it also had another wholly unanticipated effect. The overwhelming feeling of shame and emptiness that filled her for having dismissed Sam like that. But Shane had been standing right there. She couldn't have said any more than she already had.

"So you were dating before me?" he asked, arm wrapped tightly around her as they walked through the halls.

"Only for a couple of weeks. Before you moved here. It was nothing. He moved away before things could get serious."

Shame ripped through her at as the barefaced lie escaped her lips. What she'd had with Sam would never be considered nothing! She'd even told him when she'd like to get married and that was something only Kurt knew! She hoped that Shane didn't notice that she was avoiding his eyes. Just what was it that made her that she couldn't be totally honest with him about Sam? Was it because she still wasn't being totally honest with herself?

Fortunately Shane seemed to take her words at face value and kissed the top of her head. "I need to go and find this coach Bieste. Do you want me to come to your locker with you or are you okay with that?"

"I'm fine. You go!"

"Alright. See you after class baby!"

In all honesty Mercedes was happy to see him go. She had no idea she would feel so guilty. All she could see was the image of Sam's hurt face as they said their goodbyes on her doorstep. If he ever found out about this he would hate her forever. Suddenly her plan to return to school with a new boyfriend to erase the drama of the last one seemed like a really really stupid one. Being miserable alone had to be better that lying and feeling like a fraud.

She sighed deeply, put the books into her locker and slammed it shut.

Turning back around, her eyes were met by the steely ones of Quinn and Mercedes had no idea how long she had been standing there. But the way her arms were folded across her chest said that she was angry as hell about something!

"Hey Quinn!"

Mercedes tried to smile at the girl but she was having none of it.

"How could you say that!"

"Say what?"

"About Sam! I was standing right behind Jacob when he spoke to you. I saw your reaction!"

Mercedes took two steps back. She didn't know where this was going but she knew it wasn't going to be good. She could see Quinn's eyes narrow into little slits.

"I-I don't know what you mean!"

"You rolled your eyes!" the blond hissed.

"Quinn I-"

"I know Sam. I may not have done right by him but I know how his heart works. When he falls, he falls hard. When he loves he loves with all his heart."

Mercedes swallowed slowly, the words having more effect than she would ever let on. "What makes you think that Sam loved me?"

"I saw the way that he looked at you at the airport when we flew out to New York. I have to admit I was pretty mad about it at the time. But then I saw the way he practically crossed the stage to hug you after we sang our song at Nationals and I knew that it was serious."

"You saw the hug?"

"I was standing right behind you!"

"Oh man!"

"Look! I don't know how, or when, but thinking about it I'm pretty sure I can work out why. Sam's done a lot of rapid growing up since we were together. He was no longer the new boy out to impress. I was drawn to him because he shared a lot of the same qualities you have. But now you..." She pointed her finger and stepped forward menacingly. Mercedes knew she should be getting angry and defend herself but surprisingly her overwhelming feeling was one of... deflation.

And Quinn Fabray wasn't finished with her yet. "Mercedes, Sam's not here to defend himself. To put people straight. And as for this new guy you're banding about... Sam rebounded onto Santana because he was angry with me, and rightly so after the way I treated him. But him moving away because his dad finally got a job is _not_ the same as someone cheating. How could you do this to Sam? How could you do this to _yourself_?"

Mercedes knew that she didn't have an answer and wisely kept her mouth shut.

Quinn's voice softened now that she'd said her piece. "Look, I don't know what's going on with you right now Mercedes, but I hope it's only a blip."

Mercedes voice was wobbly when she finally spoke, still unsure as to why she had just stood still and take it all. Quinn had lost her sister relationship status after she'd moved out of their home. "Why? Why are you saying all this?"

"Because I still like to think of myself as a friend. To both you _and_ Sam. I know I've not been the greatest friend to you over the last year, especially after everything you did for me in the run up to Beth's birth, and that was really wrong of me, but over the summer I've done a lot of thinking and I want to become a better person. A person who can have true friends. A person who can make the effort to mend relationships. And most importantly to become a mom that Beth can one day be proud of. I know it'll take a while for us to get back the friendship that we once had, but my first step it to try and tell you something that only a true friend would. You may not like me for it right now, but one day you'll look back on this conversation and fully understand what I'm trying to say."

Then she turned and left without another word.

Mercedes remained at her locker. Stunned.

So much for her morning going as expected!

She was so lost in thought that she literally walked into someone.

"You know you really should look where you're going!" said a familiar voice.

She looked up into Blaine's bright smiling eyes. "Hey Blaine! Welcome to MicKinley! Where's Kur-"

She saw him standing behind Blaine, the same arms crossed angry expression as Quinn. Oh my god! Here we go again...

His jaw was set. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I guess you saw the video too?"

Kurt's eyebrow arched up. "Video? What video?"

In that moment she knew than her was going to get even madder than he already was!

Blaine piped up. "We just saw you with Shane walking in the hall. So I guess its official."

Mercedes nodded.

"And so soon after Sam?"

Mercedes had to look away. Blaine was physically acting as a barrier between her and Kurt, with her flamboyant friend looking like he was chomping at the bit to bitchslap her. He couldn't reach to hit her physically but he could verbally.

"Mercedes. Sam has been patiently waiting every day for you to get in touch with him in some way, just an email or a text. But you're just busy getting busy with somebody else as soon as his back was turned!"

Those words hurt more than he could possibly have imagined. "That's NOT true!" Her eyes burned with the sting of tears.

Kurts eyes burned back at her, full of fire.

Blaine did the wise thing. He pulled Kurt away slowly. "Honey, this isn't going to happen here. Not like this. Let's just step back from this."

Kurt didn't look convinced but allowed his boyfriend to pull him away before turning around without a backwards glance. He'd been sticking up for her with Sam but now he was starting to question if it was even worth it.

* * *

It was the end of an eventful week. Despite her outburst Quinn was still being disturbingly nice to her while Kurt refused to even acknowledge her and Blaine seemed torn. Then there were all the Cheerios staring daggers at her in the hallways now that Shane had been successful in his tryouts for the football team.

Now all she had to get through was Glee then she would be free for the weekend. Mercedes took a deep breath. She was normally never nervous performing in front of Glee club, but she knew there were a couple of people in the audience who were not going to be pleased with her song choice.

Their project for the week had been to sing a song which represented their summer. She had teamed up with Brittany and Santana who had had one hell of an emotional rollercoaster of a summer themselves. For all three of them it had all been about finding and losing love. And one of her Facebook friends in England had sent her the link to the most perfect song.

They made the way to the front, Mercedes stood in the center while the Santana and Brittany flanked her on either side.

They leaned forward, heads close together like backing singers, clicking their fingers and swaying to the rhythm of the introduction:

La la la la la la lala la laaa, lala la laaa, lala la laaa...

Mercedes stepped forward to take the first verse:

And while the city sleeps I won't weep because I didn't keep My boyfriend  
And the summer's end is here again And the leaves are golden  
Under the grand silver birch tree

She hands the microphone to Santana who continues:

While we're thinking 'bout the people we meet, Dancing feet,  
Wasters on the cover of a magazine People you've kissed, people you lust  
And the one's that you might not Ever remember, what's the use?

Mercedes belts out the next two lines:

I'm not what I was last summer Not who I was in the spring

Then all three sing together:

Tell me, tell me, tell me when will we learn  
We love it and we leave it and we watch it burn Damn these wild young hearts  
Damn these wild young hearts

Now it's Brittany's turn, staring deeply into Santana's eyes:

Now that the city's awake, my heart aches Oh, what a silly mistake it seems I've made  
You left your keys under my bed Left a thumping in my head  
I would say sorry, what's the use?

Out of nowhere Mike appears and pulls Brittany into a Lindy/Charleston dance similar to the one in the Valerie routine.

Mercedes and Santana turn, now back to back, still rocking to the beat and clicking their fingers:

'Cause, I'm not what I was last September And I don't wear the same robes in May  
We know we shouldn't do it, but we do it anyway  
We know we might regret it but it seemed okay

Damn these wild young hearts Damn these wild young hearts

The two girls now alternate the next few lines, singing to each other.

If now is forever then what's to prove 'Cause it won't be the same next summer  
And I guess I'll see you in the spring  
Somebody tell me, tell me, tell me, when will I learn  
I love it and I leave it and I watch it burn

Brittany has finished dancing and rejoins them as a trio

Damn this wild young heart I told you damn this wild young heart  
Damn this wild young Tell me, tell me, tell me when will I learn

Mercedes takes the last line and sings it softly and sadly, as if to herself:

Damn this wild young heart

Brittany grabs Santana and plants a kiss straight on her lips as the whole room erupts with loud whoops!

Mr Schue coughs to get everyone's attention. The two girls break apart and Mercedes returns to her seat, avoiding confused stares from Quinn and Kurt. "What the hell was that about?" she heard Tina whisper loudly into Mike's ear.

"Well er- thankyou for introducing us to a new song," says mr Schue, "I'm still not entirely sure what the message was but I enjoyed it anyway."

'I'm not so sure I know anymore either' Mercedes muttered to herself under her breath.

* * *

"Brittany? Why do you always call Shane Mr T?"

The final Glee club of the week was finally over and the group were gathering their things together before heading home for the weekend.

"Because he's so big and strong looking, like the A Team!" said Finn

"It's because his surname is Tinsley," Rachel piped up, all matter-of-fact, totally dismissing her boyfriend's answer.

Surprise was written all over Brittany's face. "Really? Tinsley? I always thought his surname was Jones!"

Santana leaned over and softly whispered into her ear, "No. Jones is Mercedes' surname."

The blond's mouth formed a shocked 'Oh.'

But by then, everyone curiosity had been piqued and so far nobody had actually dared to ask Mercedes outright about her new relationship and how it worked out in relation to JBI's revelation. Oblivious to what was happening around her, Mercedes smiled to herself. She'd tuned out of the conversation during Santana's reply and was busy thinking of the episode of Doctor Who when he'd decided after Rory and Amy's wedding that Rory had become Mr Pond instead of Amy becoming Mrs Williams...

"The T stands for TROLL!" Brittany said simply.

"Troll?"

"Yeah, like the big monster that sits under the bridge while the little Billy Goats Gruff go skippety hop over the top." She did the motion with her fingers and looked at the others as if this should all be so clearly obvious to them.

Mercedes was busy deciding whether or not she should be feeling offended. Her boyfriend had just been likened to an evil mythical character that preys on the innocent. But then the person saying it was Brittany and the only thing you could guarantee with her was that whatever you thought she meant she most probably didn't.

"Don't you like Mercedes' boyfriend?" asked Quinn, cutting her eyes across to Mercedes.

"Something about him makes me nervous! And Lord Tubbington's just started therapy because he keeps having nightmares about him!" She replied with completely open and honest expression on her face.

Before they could open their mouths to question further she dropped her second clanger, "Besides, I think she would have been much better staying with Sam."

Everyone looked questioningly at Brittany which meant that they didn't see Mercedes bow her head to hide her blush, the power of speech having totally escaped her.

"What do you mean Britts?" asked Santana, stroking the girl's hair softly.

"When he hugged her after we finished singing at Nationals it was so beautiful. It looked like soulmates finding each other for the first time."

Mercedes tried hard not to choke. Up until this week she thought that nobody had noticed that hug and now it seems that everyone did!

"I thought Sam was a girl?"

As one, the group jerked around, wide eyed to see Shane standing behind Mercedes. As usual nobody had heard him coming.

Kurt instantly worried how long he'd been there and how much he'd heard. One thing he knew for sure was that he wasn't comfortable with this guy and the way he treated his friend. Sure he was mad at Mercedes too, but that didn't stop him from seeing the relationship in the cold light of day.

Santana answered Shane's question as only she could. "Sam may have had lady lips but believe me, he was a_ whole_ lotta man!"

Brittany looked at the group incredulously. She knew that she wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed but how could nobody in the room have noticed that Shane had asked the question sarcastically? Of course he knew who Sam was!

Mercedes wanted the ground to open and swallow her. Too many embarrassing things were happening at once and there was waaaay too much information being given out from Santana.

"Dude, it's the same Sam that used to be on the football team," piped up Finn.

"Oh?" Shane looked at Mercedes who avoided his eyes.

Kurt was quick to react, straight into defense mode. Shane was the enemy here. Mercedes could be dealt with later. "Yeah he went out with Quinn then Santana. Clearly had a thing for Cheerios!"

Finn's voice piped up again. "And he also went to prom with-"

"Rachel!" Mercedes quickly regained her voice while giving Finn a death stare which for once he recognized immediately and stopped talking before more harm was done.

Shane laughed. "Wow! Sounds like he really knew how to work your little group! It's a shame I never got to meet him." He put his arm around Mercedes' shoulder and pulled her towards him tightly. "Come on girl, say goodbye to your friends."

She glanced back at them apologetically as she allowed herself to be pulled away hoping that he wouldn't be able to feel her heart racing.

"See what I mean?" said Brittany quietly.

But they didn't.

She shrugged and muttered under her breath "I guess I'm going to have to get Lord Tubbington to spell it out to you all..."

* * *

"Now I understand why you were so dismissive of your ex in your video with Jacob. For some reason the name never stuck with me. I guess because whoever he was isn't important."

They were sitting in Breadstix having their usual Friday night date. Shane bringing up the subject caused Mercedes' appetite to completely disappear.

"I saw his picture on the official team photo for last season. He doesn't really seem like your type anyway."

And how exactly was he supposed to know what her type was? Mercedes pushed her rapidly cooling pasta around her plate. She'd suggested three weeks in a row to go to the Mexican place she liked but he just said 'Breadstix was as good as anywhere' and so here they were. Again!

Today she'd sung a song about changing as a person. But had she really? Sam had made her feel secure in herself. But right now she was as insecure as ever and it was getting worse. She thought back to an event earlier in the day.

She had walk over to Shane's locker to meet him at lunchtime:

_As she approached, she saw him chatting to three Cheerios. They were ones she didn't recognize from before. Probably juniors. She could tell that they were all flirting with him. He was the new football player. Who wouldn't? One in particular was pulling out all the stops, flicking her hair and punctuating her sentences with little touches on his chest. She remembered Santana saying her name was Missy and she'd been trying her hardest to steal her title of 'top bitch' in the school. Santana was simply waiting for the perfect opportunity to bring her down._

_And worst of all it was that it didn't look like Shane minded the attention at all!_

_Feeling like an overdressed tub of lard she headed towards him. He caught her eye and smiled. "Hey! I've been waiting for you!"_

_The three Cheerios shot her icy looks, tearing her apart with their eyes. Weighing her up in their heads and finding her seriously wanting._

_"I guess that's your cue to go!" she said to them coldly. Her face clearly showed that she meant business because the first two left him immediately, walking towards the exit which involved passing right by her._

_"Don't worry," said one as she passed, "It won't take him long to start wondering what the hell he's doing with a lump like you when there's so much better on offer for the taking." The other simply smirked._

_Missy took longer to leave. She actually had the audacity to run her finger down his chest before saying to him in an exaggerated whisper, "I'll see you later at practice."_

_She smirked as she swaggered past Mercedes with an exaggerated swing of her skinny hips in the tiny skirt._

_She would have taken her out there and then if it hadn't been for the fact that she had been distracted by Shane's eyes actually following the bitch's departure..._

Mercedes sighed. Sam had wanted to hold hands with her in the halls precisely to stop that kind of thing from happening.

Should dating someone else really be this hard? Her friends were starting to hate her and she had to admit that didn't enjoy spending her time with Shane nearly as much as she did with Sam. If she was honest with herself, most of the time it was more like a chore.

What exactly had she gotten herself into here? And how?

She fought to push the thoughts aside and finish eating her pasta.

Shane was talking again.

"For our future Plans to work you really need to be able to shine more with your singing. I think you really need to push harder to get more solos from your teacher in Glee club. What do you think?"

She knew he was right but it wasn't in her nature to be pushy like that. Time and time again she had been brushed aside for others, namely Rachel Berry, to shine.

But maybe she should heed his advice.

Was this the time to finally let her inner diva out?

* * *

_**I really liked Brittany. (This was written way before the Bram travesty I read about where she went from innocent genius to offensively insulting about Mercedes.)**_

_**Song used was Wild Young Hearts by the Noisettes **_

_**Do I even understand the lyrics myself? Probably not. But I love the band and I love the song. Plus it sums up an eventful summer because not only did Samcedes happen, in my head Britanna also happened and that was one hell of a messy story that I'll never get to tell!**_


	7. Wait! Sam Evans Is Gay?

Chapter 7: The Return Of School

* * *

Warning! This chapter does contain more Shane!

But he is already on the slippery slope i promise!

Let's all just enjoy loving to hate him!

* * *

"Yes! Sam and I dated. But his dad got a job out of State - but I'm going to give you an exclusive. There's a new man in Mercedes' life now, and he's my future plans..."

Sam replayed the clip over and over, desperately hoping that the next time he watched it her words would be different. Or that she wouldn't be resting her hand on some other man's chest. Or that she did not ROLL HER EYES with irritation when she mentioned that they'd dated.

And the phrase 'cocoa babies'. Well that was just a whole new level of hell to the no!

Right now his heart felt like the heart of Davy Jones in Pirates of the Caribbean. Still beating but locked away in a box.

He knew that Kurt had said she wasn't herself at the moment but there was NOTHING he recognized about the girl on the screen in front of him apart from the backpack that she was carrying.

Kurt had shared with him a suspicion that Mercedes may have liked someone else. At first he'd wondered why his friend might have done that and he now realized it was to mentally prepare him for something like this.

But nothing could possibly prepare him for something like this.

He should have felt angry at her. Betrayed and hurt. But he didn't. He just felt sad. And in his own strange way he actually understood. He had rebounded onto Santana. She was rebounding onto this ugly hulk of a guy. His only consolation was that at least it wasn't somebody that he knew. If it had been one of the other guys from Glee he might have had to spend all his money on gas to drive back to Lima and smash their face!

He played the clip from Jacob Ben Israel's blog once more. On the one hand, enjoying the sound of the voice that he'd missed so much, and on the other, being stabbed repeatedly by the words which she said.

He'd waited patiently for the first day of school in Lima, to tune into JBI's blog, knowing that he would approach Mercedes after having caught them together at the fair over the summer, and desperate to know what she would say.

Of all the things she could have said, this had in no way featured in the list of possibilities that he'd put together.

This year, the schools in Ohio were starting three days earlier than those in Tennessee, so he had three days to find other distractions from the ten second clip that had driven a nail into his still beating heart.

This guy had better be treating her right or there would be hell to pay...

* * *

Thomas Waterson High School looked all wrong. The buildings looked wrong, the layout looked wrong and all the kids looked like freaks!

Sam Evans sighed as he slammed the door shut on the beat-up Chevy. It was his grandmom's car but the arthritis in her hands had made it too difficult to drive so he had added himself on to the insurance. At least he had his own ride for the first time in forever!

He hated having to start all over again. But it was something he had to do. If Stacy and Stevie could manage it then so could he.

Football tryouts had been a success and he was on the team in no time. But the other guys on the team were total jerks. He couldn't believe just how different he was from them and their superficial lives. For them it was all about how many different girls they could hook up with, where the coolest parties were and how much they could drink.

But Sam's High School experience was going to be different this time. He had no desire to be popular and did his best to keep a low profile. However, being an attractive football player meant it was impossible to keep a low profile. And the cheerleaders were the worst. They openly called him 'fresh meat' to his face as if that would somehow ever endear them to him! They'd made their way through the existing teams over the last year and were doing their best to snag him and the other new guy Ashley as soon as possible. Ashley had no problem working his way through them. But Sam just wasn't inclined that way.

Every day in the halls he had to put his head down and run the gauntlet of cheerleaders and other girls all trying to 'get up in his grill'. There was just no convincing them that he wasn't interested and it was like it had become a challenge to see who was going to be able to get him to crack first.

But they were all out of luck. There was only one girl he wanted. And if he couldn't have her then he simply didn't want to be with anyone else. At least not yet anyway. She may have moved on but he knew that he wasn't yet ready and there was no way on earth that he was going to make a rebound mistake like Santana all over again!

"Hi Sammy! How are you doing today?" He didn't need to turn his head to see Krystal hovering by his locker. He hated that she called him Sammy. Nobody but his family and Mercy were allowed to call him that, but he knew that if he said something it would just make her do it even more to evoke a reaction.

She'd been on to him from the very first day and it was getting tiring. As soon as he'd come out of Coach Rogers' office after enquiring about tryouts for the team she'd been there. Chewing her gum all loud and swinging her hips at him. If she hadn't caked herself in so much makeup she may even have been pretty. She knew she looked good, but had worked her look completely wrong, resulting in her looking like a cheap whore who was trying too hard. She was tall and blond like Brittany, but her hair was shorter and her eyes more of a hazel.

_"Hi! I'm Krystal. With a K!" She was leaning against the door smiling and chewing her gum loudly. A sound that he loathed._

_Sam knew her type and knew that he couldn't get away from her fast enough._

_"So you're going to try out for the team?" She eyed him up and down, mentally undressing him. "Well you're definitely built like a ball player!"_

_He put his head down and kept walking._

_"Oooh! The strong silent type are we? Nothing wrong with that. We all know the quiet ones are always the biggest freaks in bed!"_

_She was now following him down the hall. "So what's your name, handsome stranger? Come on! You're going to have to talk to me sometime!"_

_Sam hoped that sometime wasn't going to be today, or anytime soon._

But she had continued the pursuit.

By the second day she'd known his name.

And by the third she knew that he had transferred from Ohio but was originally from Nashville. Other girls had tried it on but she was by far the worst offender and it got really old really fast.

* * *

The first couple of weeks of school passed by quickly. Being on the football team meant that he couldn't be completely anonymous, but outside of sport he kept his head down in class and didn't hang around after school. Not wanting to be popular meant that he could roam the halls in relative peace.

The other boys on the team questioned why he hadn't yet 'tapped that' when it came to Krystal. After all, they'd all been there. Some more than once. And yet none of them realized that talking like that really wasn't 'selling it' to him. Despite what coach said he didn't like walking around the school in his new Letterman jacket. Although he played with the team he didn't really hang around with them.

Today at lunch he was sat at a table of randoms when the school's Glee club pulled an impromptu performance. He watched with curiosity as they danced and sang their way around the lunch room and between the tables. They were actually pretty good. Not as good as the New Directions but there was definitely talent there.

Nobody at his school knew that he could sing and play. He'd decided that joining Glee club would be out of the question. What if they got through to Sectionals and Regionals? There was no way that he would be able to sing against his old group. And there was no way on earth of knowing how he would react seeing Mercedes and her new boyfriend there.

No, his voice and guitar were staying at home for his own personal pleasure and comfort. Nobody else's.

Home. He smiled to think that he referred to his grandparent's house as home in a way that he never could the motel room.

He returned his tray then headed back to his car to retrieve a forgotten textbook that he needed for the afternoon.

On his return he heard a yell and turned in time to see three letterman jackets hoist a pair of flailing arms and legs flying into one of the large trashcans.

"Hey!" He ran over to be met by three of his grinning teammates.

"This isn't your battle Evans!" They simply pushed past him, high-fiving and congratulating each other.

Sam leaned over the side of the trashcan to see who was in there. Inside was a slightly built boy with red hair. His face looked vaguely familiar from English class. Sam offered his arm and helped pull him out.

"Thanks mate! That's really decent of you! Look, I would offer to shake your hand but I'm all – you know!"

Sam nodded.

"I'm Oliver by the way. But my friends call me Ollie."

"I'm Sam. And I do not like green eggs and ham!" Why the hell did that just come out?

The boy's face lit up. "Doctor Seuss! I used to have those books when I was little!"

Sam grinned at the acknowledgement. "Great accent by the way!"

"Thanks. As you can tell I'm not from around here. I was born and grew up in London but moved here last summer with my mom when my parents split up. She's from just up the road. Look- I hope you don't mind but I really need to go to the bathroom and get cleaned up from all this…"

"No worries. I'll come with you. I think I also got some stuff on me from when I reached in."

"That's cool. I'm so sorry you got yourself–Oh my god my Ipad…" Ollie suddenly stopped and rummaged through his bag until he found his computer. It was unharmed in its case. "Phew! I'm so sorry. If this had been broken I don't know what I would have done. There's stuff on here which hasn't been backed up yet!"

They reached the bathrooms and started to clean up.

"So you're new to this school aren't you!" He looked at Sam curiously.

Usually Sam didn't like talking about himself with the kids at school but for some reason he didn't mind this guy. "Yep. My family moved here during the summer. I'm still adjusting."

"Well I hate to say this but this will be my second year and I'm still adjusting too! But then again I've got the whole America thing to adjust to, not just the whole school thing which, I have to admit, it is just like it is on the TV shows!"

"But do you like it here?" As soon as the words came out Sam realized that it was a stupid question. "I mean apart from-"

"Oh I know what you mean. I suppose its okay. I don't have much else to compare it to. Well, when I say okay I mean apart from the bullying that is!"

"Can I ask? Why do they do it?"

"How long is a piece of string? I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm English. Maybe because I'm ginger. Maybe it's because I'm gay. Maybe it's because I'm a computer geek. Maybe it's because I try to put at least a _little bit_ of thought into the clothes I'm going to wear each day. Maybe it's because I'm just simply different and that threatens them. Bullies don't need a reason and I already give them plenty."

Sam nodded. "You're just like my friend Kurt! You guys would get on so well!"

"Is he gay too?"

"Very! But he has a boyfriend. He had to transfer schools for a while because of bullying. Fortunately it got sorted and he came back, but he had the same kind of attitude as you and is just as clothes crazy!"

"Sounds like someone I'd like to shop with!"

Sam grinned. "You would. But you'd have to fight my girl- _ex_ girlfriend for shopping privileges."

Ollie's eyebrow shot up in a perfect Kurt impression that made Sam wonder if they were separated at birth.

"I'll talk about it one day. But not today!"

"That's fine," said Ollie, tossing a multitude of dirty wipes away into the trash. "Did you know that baby wipes are brilliant for cleaning everything off everything in an emergency?"

Sam couldn't say that he did.

The bell rang for class. "Time for English. Shall we go?"

* * *

Sam and Ollie's paths crossed a couple more times over the next week. Ollie tended to spend lunchtimes alone hunched over his Ipad and Sam didn't want to disturb him. Besides, he was too busy trying to hide from Krystal who was taking his refusals as a personal challenge to try harder.

It took a week before Sam noticed Ollie walking to school alone. He slowed the car and offered him a ride.

"Thanks! That's really decent of you."

"No problem. I just live round the corner on Long Dale Drive."

Ollie's eyes opened wide. "No waaay! So do I! What number?"

And that's how they found out they actually lived precisely six houses down from each other, and Sam became Ollie's ride from that day on. As they travelled they found they actually had a lot in common. There was a mutual love of sci-fi. But the biggest thing was computer games. Now that Sam had his own computer he was back into his avid online gaming with a vengeance (and it also kept his mind off thinking about Mercedes and her new boyfriend.) Their avatars had even played against each other before without them knowing who the other person was.

But Ollie was the greatest computer whizz and one day showed him what it was that kept him hunched over his Ipad and laptop over his breaks. He was actually working on a computer game and had been for the last two years. "I'm great with the programming and the technical stuff, but what I lack is the imagination and artistic skills for the variety of characters that I need."

Sam grinned as an idea formed in his head. "You won't believe this but I used to do drawings. And most of them were comic and computer game characters that I made up. I'll dig some out and if you like any of them you're welcome to use them."

"Really? Just like that?"

"Sure. They're just sitting in a book. If they can be of use then that'll be great."

"Sam I swear, when this game goes viral I swear you will get a share of the royalties!"

Sam laughed. "It's a deal!"

* * *

Sam woke up with a feeling of foreboding. It was just going to be one of those days, he could feel it in his bones.

Stacy had fussed in the morning and his trying to settle her had made him late. Then Ollie had texted to say that he was unwell and would not be coming to school so he had made his way in alone.

At lunchtime he really missed having Ollie to talk and finished his lunch quickly before heading to the library. He had to pass the table with all the cheerleaders and popular girls. He felt their eyes leave their salads and follow him as he walked but he didn't turn or break his stride. Unfortunately for him, Krystal was very fit and very fast.

By the time he'd collected the books from his locker to take to the library she was right there next to him. And as he slammed the door shut he sensed that he wasn't going to be able to get rid of her easily today.

"Hey Sammy! What's new?"

"Nothing. Look Krystal, I'm busy."

She ignored him as usual. "Ashton's having a party on Saturday. All the football team will be there."

"And what has that got to do with me?"

"Well are you coming? Coz I'd really like to go with you!"

"I'm not going!"

"Oh come on! Where's your sense of fun?"

"I left it in Ohio!"

She scowled. "Clearly you did!" She was looking around to see if anyone else was in the hallway. But it was deserted.

Sam suddenly felt nervous. Why the hell did she need to check if we were alone-

Before he could finish his thought she had reached up on tiptoes and crushed her lips against his, forcing him back up against the locker, wanting to push her away but not quite knowing what to do with his hands that would not be misconstrued as being an assault. Because the actual truth was that _he_ was the one actually being assaulted here!

He tried to shout for her to stop but the second he opened his mouth she forced her tongue in, her hands on his shoulders trying to draw him closer.

Total panic set in.

Panic and guilt flashed up with an image of Mercedes and a sense of- _oh my god please tell me she has not just been eating blue cheese dressing! I can taste it on her tongue!_ That was the vilest thing since the third Star Wars Movie...

Sam could feel his gag reflex kick in and he started to dry heave.

Krystal pulled back and stared at him with an expression which was equal amounts of shock, anger, distain and horror.

He didn't care. He shot her wild look before running to the nearest trash can and vomiting into it!

He then ran into the boy's bathroom to wash his face and mouth out.

* * *

Sam didn't expect Krystal to follow him but she did. She was livid. Without a word she checked every stall to make sure nobody else was there before totally losing it.

"What the FUCK was that all about! How DARE you vomit after kissing me!"

Sam turned to her. She wasn't the only one who was livid. "YOU kissed ME! I did NOT kiss you back. You're the one who tongue raped me you crazy bitch!"

"Oh my god!" She took a step back, "Kelly was right. You are TOTALLY gay!"

He glared at her. "No I'm not!"

"You totally are! You spend all your time hanging round that British ginger fag. You even arrive to school together! It's so not subtle Sam! And you've not even looked at a girl since you started this school..."

Sam started to retaliate before realizing that there were worse rumors that he could be faced with. If the school believed he was gay it would get every single girl off his back. And if anyone on the team tried to make things difficult for him, he was more than prepared and capable of fighting back. He thought about it quickly then changed his reply.

"Look! I don't want to talk about it," he said, his voice suddenly calm. Admit nothing, deny nothing...

"I KNEW it!"

"No you didn't. Otherwise you wouldn't have spent all that time pursuing me."

"Maybe I thought I could change you."

"Nothing you could do would change me. I know who I like and I'm not changing from that."

Krystal looked totally floored. She just didn't know what to say.

The door opened, a junior walked in, took one look at the two of them and ran straight back out again.

"Now this can go one of two ways Krystal," said Sam, feeling the upper hand going back to him. "We can just end this now, quietly, and you'll leave me alone for the rest of the year and not spread rumors about me. Or, as a counter attack, I can tell the world that you're so skanky and riddled with infection from being with every boy in the school that when you tried to kiss me I threw up. And _nobody_ will want to go near you ever again!"

She looked at him long and hard before admitting defeat.

"Oh whatever Evans!" she said before dramatically opening the door and huffing back outside to her friends.

Sam knew that the rumor about him would get out. Maybe not today, maybe not even tomorrow. But it would get out. Because Krystal was a slut who couldn't keep her mouth shut. It was only a matter of time and he would be prepared!

But for now it worked for his advantage.

And he would use that.


	8. Rock Bottom

Mercedes sat alone in the choir room, her uneaten lunch resting on her lap.

She wasn't sure why she was even in here. As of yesterday she was no longer a member of the Glee club. Shane had said they didn't want her and they didn't deserve her. She should have been happy to make the break from those who were tying her down, but it just felt like there was another hole in her chest. She'd thought Sam's departure had caused her all the sorrow she could handle but she was wrong.

Being out of Glee club made her hurt just a little bit more.

She had never felt so alone.

Shane was supposed to have been meeting her for lunch but had texted at the last minute to say he would join her a bit late. He'd been doing that a lot lately.

And there was nobody else she could sit with, because due to her venting of her frustration in a none too polite way, in one foul swoop she'd alienated all of her friends.

And so she'd ended up here, alone, not even feeling hungry, and wondering for the millionth time if she had done the right thing.

Shane said that she had. That she needed to stand up for herself and tell them all what for. That she needed to rise above because she was better than them all and would go further without them holding her back and dimming her light.

So why didn't it feel right?

She sighed and looked at her phone. Shane would be here soon. But even the thought of his impending arrival didn't make her feel better. Shouldn't she be excited? Shouldn't she be feeling something like the deep anticipation in the pit of her stomach that she got every single time she knew she was going to see Sam?

She should, but she felt nothing. Just cold and empty and for the life of her she couldn't work out how she had ended up in this dark place. It was her choosing after all. She could have said no to Shane. Was all this worth it, just to have someone to hide behind and avoid facing the painful truth?

She wiped a stray tear from her cheek and put her head in her hands with a heavy heart.

* * *

**_Meanwhile, in the lunch room..._**

"Rachel, we know that Mercedes was out of order yesterday, but that doesn't mean you get to gloat about it!"

Rachel shot the blond a glare. How dare Quinn of all people try to put her down. "Mercedes only got what was coming to her!"

"To be honest," Kurt's voice was quiet and the others barely heard him start to speak, "aside from the fact that she actually made a few valid points, even though she made them badly, I can't be the only one to have noticed that she really hasn't been herself lately for a number of reasons."

"Oh she's just fine!" shot Rachel, "She's just showing her true colors!"

"And you're one to talk about true colours little miss 'let's send Sunshine to the crack house' Berry!" he shot back.

She narrowed her eyes but knew she didn't have a comeback to that. She looked across at Finn for some sympathy but got none.

Kurt continued. "I've tried talking to her but it's as if something's getting in the way!"

"Something or someone?"

All eyes turned to Puck who had spoken for the first time. He leaned forward and continued talking. "Look, if mama wants to see someone then that's fine. But I'm not getting the best vibes from Shane. He leers at the Cheerios nearly as much as I used do before Lauren! There's just something I don't like about him."

Artie nodded. "Something is definitely off about that guy. He seems physically incapable of telling the truth, even when he has nothing to hide."

Brittany smiled brightly. "Now you're starting to see the troll!"

Puck nodded. "She never even talks to me anymore. We used to laugh but now she seems to get nervous talking to any of us guys."

For the first time Tina spoke up. "I do remember her saying something strange yesterday. Something about how Shane was right and she didn't need anyone but him anymore."

Mike gasped, shocked, and stared back at her. "She said that?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I found it pretty creepy at the time, but then everything else kicked off and I forgot about it until now."

"Anyone else notice a recurring theme here?" Puck asked.

Artie nodded. "Since she's been seeing Shane she seems to be acting strange."

Actually she's been acting strange since she broke up with Sam thought Kurt but he knew better than to say that out loud. And besides, Artie did have a point.

"Maybe she's pregnant!" said Lauren. "Especially considering the song she sang yesterday."

Everyone shook their heads. "After spending time with me while I was pregnant, I know Mercedes would never make the same mistake," muttered Quinn.

Kurt started to nod his head in agreement until his brain started making a few calculations... What if she was pregnant and was trying to hide the fact that the baby is Sam's... NO! He knew them both and they would never do anything that stupid. But then accidents happen - and it would explain why she was refusing to speak to Sam...

He shook his head, refusing to believe it and absolutely resolving not to vocalise it.

"Maybe we should have a word with Shane." said Artie.

"And say what exactly?"

"Just that we're on to him. And just because Mercedes is not in Glee anymore, it doesn't mean that we abandon her."

"But she walked out on us!" Rachel whined.

She was ignored by the rest of the group.

"Mercedes has been in Glee since the beginning," said Artie, "Her love of singing is part of what got us all to this point. She has personally been more than a good friend to each and every one of us, even _you_ Rachel. I refuse to believe that she'd suddenly and randomly just pull away from it like that."

Kurt nodded. Even though she'd been acting crazy. He knew that he would be behaving like a bad friend if he just let her continue like that.

* * *

"What's up babe?"

"Nothing."

"It's clearly not nothing." Shane put his arm around Mercedes and pulled her closer, "You know you can always talk to me." Talking was reserved for Mercedes. Other things he could get elsewhere.

She nodded silently. "It's just-"

"Just what?"

"I feel so terrible about what has happened with the Glee club."

Shane couldn't quite stifle his sigh of frustration. They'd been through this before! "Babe we've talked about this already!"

"I know, but I just feel..."

"Look, they were your friends, but they didn't see your potential. And when you tried to point it out they rejected you."

"I know but I feel like I pushed them into a corner."

"No you didn't. If they really appreciated you they would have taken what you said to heart. You're better than Rachel. You're better than all of them. They can't see that. But I see that. And I'm going to dedicate my life to helping you see that too." He squeezed her tighter.

For some reason Mercedes did not feel completely comforted. He was saying all the things a perfect boyfriend should say.

And yet...

It felt empty. It felt… manipulative.

And it worried her.

* * *

"Hey Mercedes!"

The last thing she wanted to see was Missy's smug little face. Everywhere she went the bitch was there and it really started to grate. She didn't dignify the girl with a reply but she wasn't going to take a hint.

"Look I'm just trying to be friendly."

Mercedes still didn't respond.

"Ok if that's the way you're going to play it. I was only going to offer you some friendly advice on how to keep your man happy. But it seems you have it all under control so please, don't mind me!"

"Oh I mind you very much!" Mercedes snapped. "But I'm going to take the moral high ground and not let you get to me."

"Seems like there's a lot that you don't get at the moment." Her voice took a nastier tone. "And a lot that you're _not giving_ either!"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean!" She finally lost her patience and pushed the skinny girl against the locker, catching Missy by surprise and winding her. "I'm wearing my grandma's earrings today and I'm in no mind to take them off. But if you _ever_ even open your mouth in my presence again, whether it be to speak or even just to yawn, you'll have the pleasure of experiencing how I really feel about you and I'll say my extra prayers on Sunday."

"She's not worth it Wheezy!"

Mercedes spun around to see Santana and Brittany approaching from behind. Missy quickly weighed up the situation and took her leave before Mercedes could turn back to her.

"I'm surprised you're even talking to me!"

Santana shrugged. "To be honest so am I! But Britts here says I shouldn't take everything you're doing at the moment at face value."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, we've been discussing you and we think there's more going down than we know about so we're reserving judgement."

"Who's been discussing me? And what's 'reserving judgement' supposed to mean?"

"To be honest, I'm not even sure!" Brittany grinned at her girlfriend for saying something which was usually her line, "Let's just say that we're not as mad at you as you may think. Okay well maybe the Hobbit is. But the rest of us can see the bigger picture."

Santana grabbed Brittany by the hand and started heading off down the hall.

"And besides," she smiled, "When we give Missy her beat down we're gonna do it properly. I've been waiting a long while to go all LimaHeights on that bony butted wanna-be-me _perra estúpida!_ Luckily for that pre-enhancement perky mosquito bite titted bitch, today is not the day. But tomorrow seems more promising..."

* * *

"Oh baby!"

Puck and Artie had returned to the locker room. Artie had forgotten his kit bag, and as Shane was the last one to leave they had the potential of actually cornering him and asking in a non-confrontational way (because he was so big) what was going on with their friend. After lunch they'd continued talking with each other and realised that Shane's strange behavior also extended to them. At first he had been friendly with them, but not that he and Mercedes were an item, he'd cut them loose and done everything possible to keep her away from them.

The female voice that had met their ears definitely was not Shane's.

"Fuck yeah! Give it to me!"

But that one was.

As they turned the corner they were met with a sight that they both wished they could scrub from their brains.

Shane was sat naked on one of the benches. Missy was straddled across his lap in full Cheerio uniform. It took an extra second to spot her panties dangling from her ankle.

Her arms were around his neck, his hands were under her skirt and they were moving to the rhythm of a beat which was not coming from any speaker in the vicinity.

Shane was groaning. "Oh you feel so good..."

"I bet Mercedes can't make you feel like this. Stupid bitch doesn't even let you get to first base... Oh baby... HARDER!

Artie felt sick and Puck turned bright red with fury. It wasn't until he felt Artie's calming hand on his arm that he realized he'd been about to charge over them and get himself sent straight back to juvie. The spectacled boy wheeled out of sight and Puck followed him reluctantly.

"What the hell are we going to do about this?" hissed Puck, frustrated that he couldn't go out there and rip Shane's head off.

Artie frowned and pushed his classes higher up the bridge of his nose as he tried unsuccessfully to blot out the sounds that had followed them behind the lockers.

"We have to tell Cedes."

"But how?" hissed Puck. He was seriously weighing up how much time he'd have to do in juvie for beating the shit out of Shane and if it would be worth it.

"Wait here." Artie pulled out his phone and wheeled back to their previous spot, "We can't go to Cedes without evidence."

He returned seconds later looking positively green. "However bitchy she may have been acting recently, she does NOT deserve this! And now I have a plan! Let's go find her!"

* * *

**_Yeah so I didn't change Shane after all. But that doesn't matter because his time is well and truly up._**

**_Time for Mercedes to get some perspective and Shane to get gone. It doesn't get any worse than this!_**


	9. Fondue For Two: The Intervention

**_This is that fun random chapter which was inspired by mariposafria's oneshot. I miss those good old days of early fanfiction and plot bunnies and general silliness!_**

**_But back to the story in hand! So the question is - Where was Mercedes when Artie and Puck were looking for her?_**

**_This chapter is not like the others!_**

**_Welcome to a strangely Brittany free episode of her internet sensation show!_**

* * *

FONDUE FOR TWO! FONDUE FOR TWO!

'THAT'S SOME HOT DISH!'

FONDUE FOR TWO!

Mercedes is sitting alone looking uncomfortable.

_Mercedes_: Hello?

_Mercedes_: Hello? Do you ever say anything or do you just work the camera?

She leans forward and stares intently at the camera which is staring just as intently back at her.

_Mercedes_: On second thoughts, is there anybody actually even operating this thing?

She folds her arms and narrows her eyes with suspicion.

_Mercedes_: Look, Brittany said she'll just be a second but that was nearly ten minutes ago!

_Mercedes_: Do you reckon I can start without her? Coz this fondue doesn't smell like that scalding hot dirty diaper tasting slime she tried to serve up last time and I'm about ready to give it a try.

_Mercedes_: OK so if you haven't said no I'm going to take that as a yes...

She dips her finger in and takes a small bit to taste.

_Mercedes_: White chocolate! RESULT!

She tries to unsuccessfully skewer a strawberry with one of the prongs before settling for using her fingers.

She drips a little chocolate onto her top and busies herself trying to get as much of it off as she can.

_Mercedes_: OK, you know what. Brittany has as long as it takes me to finish this sweet little treat then I'm outta here!

_Disembodied Voice_: You look like you're enjoying that!

Mercedes freezes for a brief second before staring around her wildly.

_Disembodied Voice_: Because we _all_ know you love yourself a bit a white chocolate!

_Mercedes_: Is that you?

She leans forward and looks questioningly towards the camera. This was weird as shit.

_Disembodied Voice_: Of course it's not the camera. Cameras don't talk!

The voice was definitely coming from behind. But there was nobody behind the camera. Just Brittany's bed with Lord Tubbington lying in the middle of it, his legs tucked comfortably underneath his larger than is healthy for a cat body.

She frowns. Surely it can't be…

_Mercedes_: Lord Tubbington?

_Disembodied Voice_: The one and only!

_Mercedes_: (mutters) This is the kind of weird shit that only happens to white people!

Against her better judgment she gets up from her seat and moves hesitantly over to the bed. The camera follows.

_Mercedes_: But cats can't talk!

_Lord T_: Duh! Obviously!

_Mercedes_: So how come-

_Lord T_: Do you see my lips moving? Of course not! That's because I'm communicating with you _telepathically_!

The cat turns and looks at her with eyes full of aged wisdom before settling in a more comfortable position facing the corner of the bed next to where she is now perching.

_Mercedes_: Okay this shit just got full on freaky!

_Lord T_: I communicate telepathically with Brittany all the time. Unfortunately she's one of the few humans with enough intelligence to have worked out how to make the communication two-way. Otherwise I would have completely got away with resuming my 20 a day smoking habit!

_Mercedes_: And now we've gone _waaay_ beyond freaky... Where IS Brittany anyway?

_Lord T_: She's not coming back. Not yet anyway.

_Mercedes_: Oh well in that case I'm leaving. This is some seriously messed up ish-

_Lord T_: If you try to leave you'll find that the door is locked from the inside.

Mercedes starts to feel incredibly uneasy. What the hell was this?

_Lord T_: This is what I think you humans refer to as 'An Intervention'

_Mercedes_: What the-

Even though she knows she keeps forgetting the extent that he is telepathic.

_Lord T_: I'm sure you already know what this is about.

_Mercedes_: Look, I know Brittany's not keen on my boyfriend but-

_Lord T_: Well that's part of it.

_Mercedes_: Only part?

_Lord T_: It's not just your boyfriend it's _you_!

_Mercedes_: What do you mean?

_Lord T_: Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you've changed. And not in a good way! The final straw was the stunt you pulled and walking out of Glee club yesterday.

Mercedes starts to get angry, shifting her position and leaning slightly forward.

_Mercedes_: I had to do it. I've been pushed to the sidelines for long enough. Now it's my turn to shine.

_Lord T_: I don't disagree. But the old Mercedes would never have embarrassed herself and behaved like that!

_Mercedes_: But I didn't do anything wrong! Shane says I should-

_Lord T_: And therein lies the problem!

_Mercedes_: Oh so now you're going to knock my boyfriend too?

_Lord T_: Face the facts. He doesn't bring out the best in you does he?

_Mercedes_: What do you mean?

_Lord T_: I mean, if Sam were here, what would he have thought of your behavior yesterday?

_Mercedes_: What has Sam got to do with it?

_Lord T_: Everything my dear, everything!

_Mercedes_: I don't understand

_Lord T_: This is an intervention. It's about making you understand. But for that to happen I need you to do something for me.

_Mercedes_: What's that?

_Lord T_: You need to step out of yourself

_Mercedes_: Step out of myself?

_Lord T_: Yes. You've lost perspective of yourself and you need to take a step back and see what others are seeing at the moment. I think you'll be surprised. You've changed.

_Mercedes_: I haven't changed!

_Lord T_: I beg to differ.

She didn't like where this was going.

_Mercedes_: You speak pretty posh for a cat. And why do you have an English accent?

_Lord T_: Because I'm Aristocracy my dear! A genuine real life Aristocat! But we digress. We're talking about you, not me. Can you think of any reasons why others may have been upset by your recent behavior?

_Mercedes_: I don't know. Maybe because they don't want to see me happy!

_Lord T_: But _are_ you really happy Mercedes?

She shrugs and doesn't answer.

_Lord T_: Have you considered the fact that maybe they've noticed that you're not happy and want to know why?

There was a quiet pause for a moment.

_Lord _T: Is being with Shane making you happy?

She thinks back to all the things over the last couple of days that had irritated and niggled at her.

_Lord T_: Is being with Shane making you want to be a better person or is he making you hurt other people? Is he making you see the good things in life or are you seeing people and situations more negatively than ever before?

She thinks back to the disappointed faces of all her friends in Glee club.

_Lord T_: Have you listened to your friends when they've tried to express concern or have you just brushed them aside?

She sees herself shrinking back. This is a one cat ambush!

_Lord T_: Are you blaming Sam for something that's not his fault and taking your anger and frustration out on others?

That one hurt the most and instantly made her defensive.

_Mercedes_: Why do you keep bringing Sam into this?

_Lord T_: Because everything links back to a fixed point in time. And from there the cracks have spread out and keep getting wider until one day they will engulf you completely and all memory of who you really were will be lost forever!

Since when did Lord Tubbington start knowing enough to make Doctor Who references?

_Mercedes_: But Sam _left_ me! He broke up with me! I told him we could try and make it work but he didn't want to listen!

_Lord T_: Or maybe you're the one who doesn't want to listen! Sam's gone but he hasn't closed the door. He's done everything in his power to keep in touch with you. _You_ are the one who is rejecting all his attempts at soothing things between you. _You_ are the one who's taken it upon yourself to be with someone, anyone, rather than be alone. _You're_ the one who has taken it upon yourself to choose to ignore the manipulative, controlling tendencies of your new beau. What happened to that short weave you always wanted to have. What happened to your favorite zebra print pants. Why do you only wear the necklace with the word DIVA on it?

She couldn't answer and she couldn't look at him

_Lord T_: _You're_ the one who's allowed him to influence the way you look, the way you act and the way that you speak. _You're_ the one who's allowed him to put a wedge between you and your friends. And one day, when he really hurts you, you _will_ suddenly realize that you're totally friendless and have nobody to go to for comfort!

_Mercedes_: He's not going to hurt me!

_Lord T_: When are you going to open your eyes and see that _he already has_!

_Mercedes_: OH SHUT UP YOU STUPID CAT!

_Lord T_: This is an Intervention. Now is the time for you to hear the hard truths.

She puts her hands over her ears and started to hum loudly.

_Lord T_: And the best part of it is that you can't shut me up. Because my voice is _right inside your head_!

Mercedes screams with frustration as she starts to see the truth in his words and they burn like a branding iron on her heart.

The oversized cat simply continues to look up at her with his cool serene eyes.

_Lord T_: My final piece of advice to you is this. Listen to your friends. Despite their frustration with you right now, they do love you. And they are the only ones who can pull you out of the spiral you're in right now.

Despite herself Mercedes found herself nodding in agreement. She'd heard enough.

_Lord _T: Oh and before I forget, Brittany would like to know where you got that purple glitter nail polish.

She wipes tears from her face and makes a grab for her car keys.

_Mercedes_: I have to go right now!

She looks at Lord Tubbington and he looks back up at her and purrs, shuffling onto his side to expose his belly so she could tickle it. The voice has stopped now.

_Mercedes_: Is it over?

It seemed so. He was not just back to being a cat and doing cat stuff. She sighs heavily.

_Mercedes_: Alright so that wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. But I promise I won't forget what you've said. Thankd for your honesty Lord T.

She reaches out her hand to touch his head and he nuzzles up against it, purring contentedly.

_Mercedes_: Okay. Today you win. I should have known Brittany would have some freakass plan up her sleeve when she said her piece after Glee.

She heads over to the door smiling and shaking her head.

_Mercedes_: An intervention from a telepathic cat! Only Brittany could manage that!

As she reaches for the door it automatically opens before she could touch the handle then closes softly behind her as she leaves.

The camera zooms out then switches off.

FONDUE FOR TWO!

* * *

**_Wow! That was so outside my style but so much fun to write. I wish the show had made Brittany more quirky than stupid!_**


	10. It Ain't Over 'Til

**_To my one reader Emma: You weren't around the first time for the whole plot bunnies thing and it's a little difficult trying to explain, especially as they got shipped over to me from America and I then made them literal and put them into the story. You had to have been there. But I think you'll like them. Coz as you're about to find out they really really don't like Shane…_**

**_But I get the feeling this is the chapter you've been waiting for!_**

* * *

Shane suddenly jolted awake. He lay still for a moment, wondering what it was that had woken him.

There it was again! That sound! The sound which had woken him.

It was the sound of... was it… _crunching_?

Was there somebody chewing _raw vegetables_ in his bedroom?

And the sound was getting progressively louder, as if it was being multiplied several times.

He leaned over to the side of the bed and peered onto his floor in the dim light.

But he couldn't see his floor at all. Because it was completely covered with bunnies, cute fluffy bunnies. Some brown, some grey, some white and some speckled. All with super soft fluffy tails and cute twitchy noses. They looked up at him from the carrots they were munching. Big cute eyes with huge pupils like Puss In Boots during his first appearance in Shrek.

Shane sat up and rubbed his eyes. He knew deep down this was a dream. His mom was a neat freak. There was no way there would ever be animals let loose on the carpet. But it seemed so real. He rubbed them harder but nothing changed.

He could have sworn the bunnies smiled at him. Obviously bunnies don't smile but they were just so darn cute that they looked like they were.

Maybe they were a gift. A very girlie gift but a gift nonetheless.

It had to be from Mercedes!

Suddenly the door to his bedroom opened. The bunnies started to file out of his room one by one with little skippy hops. As they reached the door they would turn round to glance at him before passing through, indicating that they wanted him to follow.

He rose from the bed and grabbed a t-shirt from the pile on his chair. He was already wearing sweatpants so all he needed was to slip into his sneakers once the bunnies had left enough floor space.

As he passed through his bedroom door he had to gasp at the sight before him. There was a steady stream of bunnies heading down the hall, down the staircase and out through his open front door.

He knew he had to follow them and he knew he had to get them all out of the house fast. If his mom saw any of this there'd be hell to pay!

As he passed through the front door the location changed. Suddenly they were in the locker room. Only in dreams could you walk through one door and end up in a completely different place! Missy was there in the corner wearing her Cheerios uniform. She smiled at him and blew kisses. Then she swung her hips suggestively while beckoning him over. He grinned to himself.

Hell yeah! This was going to be a VERY good dream!

But the more he stepped towards her, the more she seemed to fade. He tried to run towards her but that only made to room shift yet again.

Suddenly they were no longer in the locker room, they were out in the middle of the sports field. Missy was gone but the bunnies were still there surrounding him.

But somehow something was wrong.

Something was VERY wrong...

The bunnies were changing...

They were no longer cute and fluffy...

Shane was frozen to the spot, looking on in horror as the bunnies rose onto their hind legs. Before his eyes they started to grow, first taller, then more muscular, then finally their eyes started glowing angry red. The carrots they'd been munching no longer resembled food. They'd actually been nibbled down to sharp points. And they were all pointing at him!

WHAT THE HELL KIND OF FREAKASS DREAM WAS THIS?

Then suddenly his legs were free and he was running, faster than he'd ever run before.

But something was still wrong. He felt too... light...

He turned around and saw that although he was running he could still see a version of himself stuck in the same spot that he'd been standing. The bunnies were poised with pointy carrots raised as he threw his arm over his face in a pathetic move to try and defend himself.

Then came the blood curdling scream.

He tried to run back, to help his other self, but his legs were like lead and despite using every ounce of his energy his progress was painfully slow.

By the time he reached his other self it was all over. The bunnies were gone and the sun had already started to rise.

He collapsed down next to his own lifeless form. It was curled up in a fetal position, trying to defend himself to the last, but to no avail. His body was skewered all over with carrots that had tips sharper than spears.

And all that was left of his assailants were a series of bloody paw prints, rapidly drying in the harsh light of the new day.

He tried to scream but no sound came out...

* * *

Shane woke up with a start, his breathing heavy and his pulse racing. His body was covered in sweat and he had to take a moment to regain himself.

After a few seconds he moved his head cautiously to the end of the bed and looked down at the floor. It was the same blue carpet that was always there. He wasn't sure what it was that he was expecting but he felt and overwhelming sense of relief nonetheless.

He looked over to his alarm clock. Ten minutes to go before the alarm would ring. Typical! Not enough time to go back to sleep.

To sleep... to sleep, perchance to dream...

And then it came flooding back to him. The dream.

What the hell was all that about?

He hadn't had a bad dream like that since he was in Junior High.

And why was this particular dream lingering?

He tried to shake off the thoughts as he sat up and swung his legs over the side of his bed. Sunlight streaked through a gap in his curtains and he wiggled his toes for a moment as he contemplated going over to open the curtains or run straight in the shower.

He would have to tell Mercedes about his freakass dream. It was so weird. Maybe it was her fault. When they'd spoken the day before she'd told him how much she loved bunnies.

But somehow things had got twisted. Not only was it wrong for a guy like him to be having a dream about bunnies, he also was more than a little disturbed by the fact that they had killed him. Was Mercedes controlling the bunnies?

Did she somehow know about his trysts with Missy. It was none of her business. Girls like Missy were there just to fill a need. She was the one he was molding to be a keeper.

* * *

The feeling of foreboding stayed with him throughout the morning.

Mercedes had sent him a text to say that she didn't need a ride because she'd driven in early to work on a project, and despite hanging around her locker she didn't pitch up there at her usual time.

By lunchtime he was all set to send out a search party when he was distracted by a text.

"I've got to go babe."

Missy was leaning against his locker looking disappointed. "It's _her_ isn't it!"

Shane didn't answer.

"As soon as _she_ texts you always drop everything and go!" she whined.

"That's because she's my girl!" he replied simply.

"So what am I?" she whined.

He shrugged and said nothing, turning his back and starting to walk away. She wasn't indispensable. There was always more where she came from.

Within moments Artie had wheeled along side of him. "Did you just get a text from Mercedes?" he asked innocently.

Shane nodded.

"That's weird, so did I. She wants to meet in the rehearsal room. Something about a surprise she has for you."

Puck joined them at the next corner and Shane started to feel like he was being 'escorted' to meet Mercedes.

And something about the mischievous smile on Artie's face unnerved him just a little.

Shane followed the boys into the rehearsal room. "I can hear music!" He said.

"That'll be the fat lady singing," muttered Artie under his breath. Somehow, despite his lowered voice, Puck heard him. The mohawked teen grinned and they fist bumped behind Shane's back. They both knew that Mercedes wouldn't have been offended by that statement in this context.

Just for once in life, this actually _was_ the right time and place…

_I wish you well I hope you survive  
I hope you live, oh baby, so I can watch you cry._

_'Cause I know in time you'll see what you did to me  
And you'll come running back. (But I'll be gone!)_

_I'm gonna rain on your parade No, I won't take it again  
And I'll keep raining, raining, raining over you._

_I'm gonna rain on your parade. No, I won't take it again.  
And I'll keep raining, raining, raining over you._

Shane caught sight of Mercedes as she sang, backed up by Brittany and Santana. (**_A/N The words in brackets are them doing an exaggerated whisper added by yours truly!_**)

The fool was so caught up staring at her cleavage in her purple top that it didn't occur to him to listen to the actual words. It was too much effort considering he wasn't familiar with the song. She shot him a winning smile. Yep that top definitely rocked (he didn't know it was the same one she wore in New York the day she got together with Sam.) And yet something seemed slightly lacking with her outfit. Maybe it was because her hair scraped was back when he preferred it down…

And was it shorter again?

She caught his eye and smiled at him.

_I pity the fools who believe in you  
'Cause I know someday now, they'll see your colors too.  
And if you see a smile, besides my face,  
Know I'm doing good now, Since you've been erased._

_'Cause I know in time you'll see what you did to me  
And you'll come running back. (But I'm long gone!)_

_I'm gonna rain on your parade. No, I won't take it again.  
And I'll keep raining, raining, raining over you._

She was moving now stepping forward and beckoning him towards her, the smile broadening. Only now did he start listening to the words. They were quite harsh but they in no way matched her smiley expression so he shrugged off any worried thoughts. She was probably rehearsing something.

_I'm gonna rain on your parade. No, I won't take it again.  
And I'll keep raining, raining, raining over you._

She had reached him now and she drew a finger along his chest the way Missy always did. Then she pulled him down into an embrace and began to whisper in his ear. He grinned in anticipation.

"Say goodbye to the cocoa babies sucker!"

"Uuraargh!" Before he had a chance to fully register what she had just said, he felt the excruciating pain of Mercedes' knee jabbed hard into his gonads!

As he doubled over in agony her clenched fist met his lowered jaw in the fiercest upper cut she could ever imagine giving. Growing up fighting with an older brother had so many advantages!

He hit the floor dazed, confused and in complete agony. He curled tight into a defensive fetal position, not unlike the one he'd taken up in his dream, unable to straighten out let alone get back up off the floor. "Why?" He barely had enough air in his lungs to force out the single syllable.

Mercedes simply looked at him calmly before stretching out her fingers and rubbing her sore knuckles. The expression on her face said she was surprised at how much the hit had hurt her own hand. She then pulled out her phone as she knelt down beside his shaking head. Holding the screen to his face she played the eight second clip that Artie had bluetoothed to her the afternoon before of the footage from the locker room.

He finally stopped writhing on the floor as he froze at the sight of it. "I can explain-"

"I'd say this is pretty self-explanatory!" Mercedes hissed, her voice barely above a whisper, "I _would_ hit you some more, but I've got no desire to touch any part of you ever again knowing that skanky bitch's been all over you like a rash. But my friend Puck here had to endure some terrible sights and sounds in the locker room last night thanks to you, and who am I to deny his request to have a quiet little word with you about it! Plus his girl Lauren here has issues with guys who are too controlling over their girlfriends and try to alienate them from their real friends. She's dying to put you straight on a couple of things too!" She chuckled softly. "Artie will keep a look out to make sure you're not disturbed during your little conversation."

She turned to Lauren and handed her a cheap plastic disposable razor. "I'll let you do the honors with third eyebrow on his top lip. I've got skinnier fish to fry!"

With that she turned and headed to the door, flanked by Brittany and Santana. Just before she passed through it she spun around for the final word.

"Oh, and if any word gets out of what goes down in here, if my good friend - and did I mention _ex-boyfriend_ - Puck faces even the slightest of repercussions, this little film clip will go viral. I'm sure your mom and Aunt Esther would love to see what their precious little Bubba is really like. Oh and while I'm at it, I might make sure it gets passed round to the pastor and some of the older church members too!" The massive smile broke out onto her face again. "Just so we clear about this!"

Then she spun on her heels and was gone.

Shane couldn't even reply because Lauren was already sitting on his chest and Puck was rolling up his sleeves…

* * *

Missy was exactly where Mercedes expected to find her. She was at her locker, using the mirror that she'd stuck inside her door to retouch her makeup. She was flanked by her other two cronies, who between them looked at if they only ever ate one square meal a month!

Mercedes wasted no time with pleasantries.

"We need to talk!"

Missy smiled. "So you're finally coming to me for advice! I've already given Shane some pointers and I'll be happy to give you some too!"

Mercedes shoved the skinny girl into the lockers for the second time in two days. "I already know what your skanky ass has already given Shane," she snarled, "but I still suggested he go to the STD clinic to make sure he gets the right antibiotic to clear it right up! Coz I know you're not even clever enough to use protection!"

Missy glared back at her, defiant. "It's not my fault you can't please your man. Throwing jealous accusations at me won't help you keep him!"

"He's the last person on this planet I want right now, or ever again. But now that I'm not wearing my grandma's earrings I'm more than ready to take you to task for all the shit you and your little friends have been throwing at me over the last few weeks!" She turned her head from Missy towards her two accomplices, their pathetic attempt at an 'unholy trinity'.

The two girls looked at Mercedes, her face filled with rage, flanked by Brittany who was head and shoulders taller than them, and Lima Heights Adjacent 'razor blades all up in my hair' Santana Lopez. All three seniors sharing equal expressions of displeasure and aggression.

It didn't take the girls long to make the wisest decision of their lives. They silently backed away to a safe distance.

Missy glared after them and shrugged. "I don't care about them!" She leaned forward and shoved Mercedes. "Just because you're fat doesn't mean you can fight!"

"Oh hell to the no you did not just insult me again to my face!"

Missy smirked and threw a punch. But it was weak and pathetic. Mercedes caught her wrist before it even connected. "I may be big but I'm still fast!"

She pushed Missy's fist back down and before the skinny girl had a chance to react, swung at her with a bitch slap so hard her head snapped to the side and she staggered back into the locker, knees weak. The sound of the slap's impact seemed to reverberate around the hallway and even Santana winced at it.

Mercedes stared down at her own stinging hand. Now both sides hurt like a bitch! She suddenly remembered why she didn't like fighting.

Before the winded Missy had a chance to regain herself, Mercedes grabbed her by the ponytail and forced her down to her knees. She used the ponytail to yank her head back and stare her down further. "You're in luck Missy. I really can't be bothered to beat you down today. Maybe it's because I've already sucker punched Shane. Or maybe it's because I'm actually starting to feel sorry for you. Deep down you already know never be able to satisfy a real man with your bony ass and pancake flat chest so you try to raise your self-esteem by allowing creeps to use you and screw you at will. But as much as I feel sorry for you, I also believe that actions have consequences. No amount of showers will be able to wash away the memory of that creep's body on you. And for what? To try and prove to yourself that you're better than me! Why? I never even set myself up as your competition!" Mercedes chuckled, "But don't worry, I'm tired of this now so I'll just leave you to work through whatever shit it is that you have running through your head."

Mercedes released the ponytail, shaking some of the hairs that had come loose in her hand away from herself in disgust.

"Anyway, I'm going to head off to the nurse to get something cold for my sore hand and knuckles before sending her over to try and patch up my ex-boyfriend. After that I'll think about sending her round to you. But in the meantime, Santana here is going to provide you with a long overdue lesson on what your actual position is here in this school, not your perceived one. And her friend Brittany? Well, she's always full of surprises and she has a great imagination! I'm just happy to leave her to it!"

And after fist bumps to both Santana and Brittany she headed down the hall, sashaying her hips at the other two Cheerios and feeling better than she had for the first time in weeks…

* * *

**_The song in this chapter is 'Rain On Your Parade' by Duffy. _**

**_The chapter of Mercedes and Shane is most definitely over and he's not going to feature again!_**


	11. A Better Man

**_Happy New Year Emma! I'm posting a whole bunch of chapters for you today! (I don't think anyone else is actually reading this…)_**

* * *

While Mercedes was going through one of the most miserable weeks of her life, Sam's life wasn't being a bed of roses either.

It was all Stacey's fault. She'd spent the whole weekend being really clingy. She kept wanting him to hold her and wouldn't settle unless he was around. He'd had to resort to allowing her sit curled up on his lap watching movies on the couch while he busied himself scribbling character and animation ideas for Ollie's game in his notebook.

By Monday the reason for her erratic behavior became apparent. She had strep throat.

By Wednesday, just as she was bouncing into recovery, Sam also developed his own ragingly painful spotty throat. His grandma had gone into full nursing mode despite being retired and despite his protests refused to let him go to school.

All his protests of Wednesday were forgotten by Thursday when he really did start to feel bad and started throwing up.

The worst part was the insomnia, being wide awake in the middle of the night because each swallow of saliva was agonizing and instead of taking half a second it was taking about three!

He sighed, turned over in his bed and stared up into the darkness, thinking about the last time that he was sick...

**_Flashback begins:_**

_Sam woke up with a start. He had no idea why he had woken but here he was._

_The motel was dark, his head was pounding and his body ached. He was lying on his back and he tried hard to focus on the dark shadow of the room fan on the ceiling._

_But he wasn't in his bed and he wasn't alone!_

_Slowly the evening's events filtered through into his heavy foggy brain._

_He was sick. He could practically feel the germs swimming through his body, causing chaos wherever they reached. Yes that was it! He was in the kid's bed. Work had sent him home early. He'd run straight into the shower and then Mercedes had made him some hot choco-_

_Mercedes!_

_Although he hadn't yet moved an inch since waking he still froze._

_That would explain why the sound of breathing he could hear was different than usual._

_He moved his eyes first, peripherally seeing the outline of a person but not enough. He turned his head very slowly and there she was, fast asleep on top of the covers beside him. Her arm was flung around Stacy who was snuggled against the softness of her breasts, also asleep. He felt a pang of jealousy for his sister. That position looked damn comfortable. And, well… hot!_

_The memories continued to flood back, the kids fighting to lie next to him and Mercedes sternly commanding them to stay still while she gave him the hot drink and the medicine. He liked seeing her take charge. And the kids had hung on her every word. It had also belonged to the category of 'hot'! He remembered her nervously sitting far away and Stacy urging her to come closer. He remembered her tenderly smoothing the covers over him before laying down next to him, but on top of the covers. She'd looked so nervous but he couldn't fathom why._

_And now here she was, her face slightly towards him. Her breathing slow, deep and regular. Her breath softly warm against his cheek._

_He turned towards her slightly for a closer look. It was difficult because the way she was lying on the covers had trapped him slightly and he didn't want to move her and wake either her or Stacy._

_Her face was beautifully serene. Up until this point he'd never really noticed how long her eye lashes were. They were just as long as Stacey's. And she was wearing no makeup so this wasn't simply the clumped effect of mascara. The skin on her face was smooth and flawless, just screaming to be caressed. Her mouth was open very slightly as she breathed. He smiled at her lips. They were a perfect complement to his. But being black nobody would think a thing of her having them. It was him who seemed to have the disproportionate lips. But her lips looked so kissable. There was the faintest trace of lip gloss, but mostly it had come off with the course of time. Out of nowhere he wondered what it would taste like. Quinn had gone through a phase of wearing a chocolate one but the taste had been totally artificial and he really hadn't been keen on it._

_He imagined Mercedes going for something fruity._

_Why the hell was he suddenly thinking of kissing his friend? It's not like they flirted or anything. She was just his friend. Okay so she just also happened to be pretty hot with a great ass which he enjoyed staring at whenever she thought he wasn't looking…_

_Again he froze. He watched as her eyelids flickered with whatever dream she was having. She stirred very slightly, sighing softly and breaking into a radiant smile before turning fractionally closer to him. 'I do too!' The words coming from her mouth were barely a whisper followed by a soft moan that hit him right below the waist._

_Mailman! Think of Finn, Bieste and Mailman!_

_Whatever dream she was having it had to be good!_

_Even though her movement was small, it caused a lock of her hair to fall forwards onto her face. Without thinking he reached and smoothed it back behind her ear, his fingers tingling with the fact that he had just touched her. They wanted to continue and caress her cheek but he knew that would be wrong. That wasn't what their friendship was about. And their position on the bed was way too intimate._

_Out of nowhere another wave of tiredness washed over him. He turned his body slightly more towards Mercedes, tilted his head even closer to her and drifted back off to sleep, the regular feel of her breath on her cheek soothing him._

**_Flashback ends._**

Sam smiled at the wasted opportunity of being on a bed with Mercedes.

Well, actually, it wasn't really wasted. At that point there was nothing actually going on between them. That was for Stevie to point out a few days later. And besides, the kids were in the room. Few things were greater cockblockers than the presence of younger siblings.

He often thought back to times with Mercedes, before they were an item, and wondered what exactly their feelings were for each other at the time. Yes he'd needed to be hit on the head with a sledgehammer to see sense, but hindsight had revealed it was all under his nose the whole time. He'd just been so caught up with life that he'd failed to notice.

But now every moment with Mercedes ran through his head and he analyzed them intently, trying to work out their feelings, and if anything could have been said and done to make their parting less difficult.

But what they had was beyond special.

Yes she was rebounding with some stupid jock, but deep down he knew he still had her heart.

* * *

"You should have seen it! I thought the guy's head was going to snap off when her fist connected with his jaw!"

Sam chuckled as he rubbed the back of his neck and craned his head closer to the video Skype screen on his laptop. Kurt had been excitedly filling him in on the events of the previous day. Within the last few moments he'd been through a myriad of emotions including pure white rage when he had heard about Shane's behavior in the locker room. Kurt had had to shout at him to finish listening and not grab his keys and drive straight back to Lima to inflict some pain.

And now he was ecstatically happy. Has diva had sorted it herself, as only she could do. And that's just one of the reasons he loved her.

Despite everything.

His only wish would've been to be there to see it for himself, and get a few punches in of his own for good measure. Nobody messes with Mercedes Jones!

"And how's everyone else?"

"They're fine. They still talk about you. But as you're no longer 'on Facebook' they can't stay in touch. How long are you planning to keep this up for anyway?"

Sam shrugged before running his fingers nervously through his hair with a sigh. "I don't know. It's just easier to avoid everyone than it is to deal with all of their questions. And worse still, the sympathy."

"That won't happen Sam!"

"You know it will Kurt. And I'll probably end up hitting somebody and getting hated for it!"

"I can't imagine you doing that."

"I bet until yesterday you couldn't imagine Mercedes punching the lights out of a massive football player either!"

Kurt grinned and nodded slowly. "Actually, I think you may have a point there..."

"SAM, OLLIE'S HERE! DO YOU FEEL WELL ENOUGH FOR VISITORS?" His mom was so loud even Kurt could hear down the computer and he grinned.

"I forgot that your tiny mom can belt her voice when she wants to."

Sam nodded. "Yeah. And so can Stacy! Hold on a sec-" He opened his door and yelled in not quite such a belt with his still delicate throat, "Sure mom. Tell him to come on up!"

When he got back to the computer he could see that Kurt had his phone in his hand. "Anyway, I'd better go. Blaine will be here in a minute. Hope you feel better soon!"

"Thanks. And say hi to Blaine for me."

"I will. You must be Ollie!" Kurt waved at the ginger haired guy who had walked in the room, looking curiously at the computer.

Sam grinned. "Ollie this is Kurt. Kurt... Ollie!"

"Hi. Great to put a face to the name!" He grinned shyly at the screen.

"The feeling's mutual! Great chatting to you Sam and Carole hopes you feel better soon too."

"Tell him thanks. And thanks to you for telling me about Cedes. I feel so much better hearing about it from you."

"No problem. Just because you're stuck out in Tennessee, doesn't mean you have to miss out on all the Lima gossip!"

"Definitely!"

"Ok, I hear Blaine at the door so I'm logging out. See ya!"

Kurt signed off and Sam turned to smile at Ollie who had settled on his bed. "So how was school?"

"The usual war zone. I picked you up the math homework coz I know you really want it!"

Sam replied with an eye roll. "Yeah, thanks! Let me at least enjoy the missing Math part of being sick!"

Ollie laughed. "And I brought you some grapes!"

"Grapes?"

"Yeah. Isn't that what you're supposed to take to people when they're ill?"

Sam shrugged. "I dunno. But my throat hurts less today and I'm pretty hungry so pass them over!"

Ollie chucked him the small brown paper bag and Sam started eating after confirming that they were definitely seedless and already washed.

"So what's all the gossip from Ohio?"

Sam grinned. "My Mercedes just broke up with her loser boyfriend by kneeing him in the balls and flooring him with a right hook. Then she went and bitch slapped the McKinley version of Krystal!"

Ollie looked impressed.

"And that's why I love her!" Sam chuckled.

Ollie shot him a thoughtful look. "You really do don't you!"

Sam sucked and chewed a grape slowly, much as he had with the potato chip in New York when he suddenly realized that he needed to take his own advice to Finn on 'going for it!'

"Look it's over now anyway. She clearly hates me for leaving so there's no point in my pining about it. She's moved on and so should I. Do you think that Krystal will still have me after that bathroom fiasco?"

Ollie wasn't sure how to take that one but fortunately Sam wasn't expecting a response when he'd been doing his best attempt at wry British humor. "The truth is, if it were up to me I'd drive back to Lima tonight and sleep in a tent in the park if it meant I could be with her again. But reality bites, and she has sharp vicious little teeth!"

"Reality indeed!" His friend nodded, "You still haven't told me the whole story about you and this girl yet. What was it that made you so crazy about her?"

Sam spent the next hour telling his friend all about Mercedes, her singing, prom, their friendship and how they'd gotten together in New York. "She's not like other girls Ollie. She gets me and I get her. At least I thought I did until..." his voice drifted off. He still found it hard to talk about what had happened. The way things had ended. It didn't make sense. It hadn't ended badly. They had parted on good terms and she had understood. Or at least he thought that she had. She wouldn't have kissed him goodbye if she was mad at him. Maybe he shouldn't have told her that he loved her. But there was no way that she could have heard. The door was shut before he had finished and it was in Na'vi anyway.

Ollie just sat and quietly listened. He'd never been in love before and couldn't begin to imagine the emotional turmoil it could cause.

"So do you think I did the right thing in breaking it off with her when I left?"

Like Kurt, he had no idea what to say and remained silent.

"Because i regret it big time! I should have fought for her. We're only young but we could have made it work. At the time I figured we would stay in touch and by the time we got to college we would find a way to get back together. I would work my butt off to get a scholarship and I'd follow her to the ends of the world if necessary. How did it all go so wrong?" Sam could feel tears prickling the back of his eyes and there was no way to let them out. He'd already cried enough in front of Kurt in the week before he had left Lima. He wasn't about to make another guy 'grow a pair of ovaries' even if he was gay! Suddenly Sam didn't want to talk about it anymore. "I propose a subject change! I know we're supposed to be doing math, but as computer programming is just like math I need to show you some game ideas I've had..."

* * *

Opening up to Ollie made Sam think long and hard about Mercedes. Why exactly was he still sitting pining when she was so clearly getting on with her own life?

Kurt had insisted that Mercedes' erratic behavior was as a result of her unresolved feelings for him but now he wasn't entirely convinced by that.

Sam knew that he'd been living in a bubble. There were several issues that he himself needed to sort out. As well as a certain degree of denial that he'd been going through with Mercedes, things had also been difficult with his dad. Since the accident Sam had refused to talk to him. Finally his mom had sat him down and explained that it wasn't good for the kids to be around such tension when they'd already been through so much change. He missed his long heart to heart chats with his mom and much as he resisted, he knew he needed this one. He still hadn't told her the real reason for the hatred of his dad, the fact that he'd made racist and hurtful comments about Mercedes and homophobic ones about Kurt. He wasn't ready to talk about it with anyone. But he had promised her that he would try harder. He wouldn't ignore his dad when the kids were around and would even speak to him when absolutely necessary. He just avoided any extra contact with him.

Even now he still blamed his dad for the move. The move that had taken him away from his friends and the love of his life. His dad hadn't wanted him to be with Mercedes and now he wasn't. The man had won and Sam could never forgive him for that. He could never forgive him for hurting his family, for stealing the little they had to support his alcohol habit and for breaking his mom's heart by not being the man that she fell in love with.

No. Sam Evans had a lot on his mind. A lot of things that he tried hard to push aside by working out in the gym, taking daily runs and generally avoiding 'home' as much as possible when his dad was around.

He knew that part of his dad's therapy was to try and make things right with the people that he'd hurt. But he had tried that once before and failed spectacularly. Now that trust was broken Sam wasn't sure if they would ever be able to get it back. He wanted to, but right now the hurt was too raw and too deep.

He also knew that Mercedes would be disappointed in him too. She would be the first to urge him to be forgiving. But he wasn't ready to do that yet.

So as he took his daily run to clear his head, Sam Evans decided that he was going to stop his inner fighting and start taking steps towards becoming the better man that he knew he should be.


	12. The Letter

It was Saturday afternoon but Mercedes was still in bed. In keeping with the tradition she'd started with Sam, she would watch Doctor Who on a Saturday morning. But this particular day it had stretched into the early afternoon. No need to get dressed and go watch it in the den with the door open when there was no boy to have to be careful around.

She was still in her pajamas and she was feeling flat. The elation that she'd felt earlier in the week when she had disposed of both Shane and Missy within minutes of each other had now passed and she was back to feeling empty.

Something was still missing.

Something still wasn't right.

She clutched her pillow close to her chest and fought the feelings of loneliness and abandonment that lay heavily on her chest.

Suddenly there was a gentle tap on her door.

"Hello?"

The door opened slowly and she was surprised to see Kurt there. "Your mom let me in."

It had taken a lot for Mercedes to make her peace with Kurt. He'd been so mad at her about Shane and she really couldn't blame him. It had taken the hugest slice of humble pie to approach him to apologize to smooth things over but eventually they had. Over a familiar coffee at the Lima Bean they'd discussed how she felt he'd drawn away from her and towards Blaine and Rachel and they had parted agreeing that they would both have to invest more into their relationship.

As Kurt entered the room, his eyes rapidly scanned the room and narrowed as they fell on her. "Your hair's still wrapped at 1.07pm? Girl you _must_ be in a bad way!"

Despite herself she had to grin. He was looking her disapprovingly, taking in the unkempt appearance and empty cereal bowl beside her. She glared back at him hard, daring him to say the cutting remarks that she knew were going through his mind.

But two could play at that game. And instead of starting the banter that he knew she was craving, he simply took the empty bowl from beside her and placed it on the dresser before climbing into the bed next to her and shifted his focus to the screen.

"So what are we watching?"

"Doctor Who."

He gave her the one eyebrow and she knew she had to continue. "The Doctor is the last Time Lord who travels through space and time in ship disguised as a blue police box. It's bigger on the inside and he gets to have lots of adventures and save people. Unfortunately for you it doesn't contain any songs!"

"So which one is the Doctor?"

"He's the tall skinny one with the bow tie."

Kurt leaned forwards slightly as if taking a closer look. "Hmmm... Bowties are cool!"

Mercedes turned her head towards him, her mouth agape.

He frowned. "What? What did I say?"

For the first time that day she threw back her head and laughed.

Kurt had no idea why, "But the braces don't quite work and the trousers are way too short!"

But Mercedes was too busy laughing and shaking her head to take issue, or even agree, with his next words.

They settled down and watched the last ten minutes of the episode. Mercedes tried hard to explain what was going on but Kurt just didn't get it. There clearly weren't enough show tunes. Much as she loved Kurt, she knew why Sam was a much better fit.

"So why are you here?" The episode finally finished and she switched off the TV with the remote.

"To take you out for lunch. But you've got a whole heap of things to do to get ready first so get moving!" He yanked the covers off her and practically pushed her out of the bed. Then he looked at his watch. "I'll be downstairs. I expect you to join me there is 30 minutes looking fabulous!"

"No Blaine today?"

Kurt shook his head. "No Blaine. He has family stuff to do and I have sadly neglected friend stuff to do!"

* * *

Twenty minutes later, Mercedes was downstairs. She was showered, moisturized and her hair was in a neat ponytail. But she was also wearing sweatpants and a tank.

Kurt's disapproving look returned with a vengeance. "And where do you think you're going dressed like that?"

"To the stove. I don't feel like going out so I thought maybe I could make us some bruschetta instead."

Kurt wanted to be annoyed at her lack of effort to go out but the reality was that he knew Mercedes' bruschetta was way more delicious than the one at Breadstix so on this occasion he allowed her to have her way.

* * *

Mercedes couldn't quite shake off her feeling of dejavu. The last time she and Kurt were sat eating lunch like this was the time when he had finally managed to get her to confess all about seeing Sam and now it felt like he was trying to get her to fess up all over again. But to what?

"Sam."

That's all he said. One word. And yet Mercedes knew exactly what he was saying. She pushed the plate with her final piece of bruschetta away from her. Suddenly her appetite was gone.

Kurt had wisely finished eating his delicious morsels before saying what he needed to say. "Don't worry Cedes. I'm not going to lecture you. I've said everything I need to say in various ways to you over the last few weeks, and I know that deep down on some level you _did_ actually listen even if you haven't acted on it now. What I have for you today is a suggestion."

"A suggestion?"

"Yep. One of those psychology things. _I_ know you're not over Sam. _You_ know you're not over Sam. The whole damn _Glee club_ knows you're not over Sam. I can't make you speak to him if you really feel that you can't. But you have to let it out. You can't heal or move on until you do. So my suggestion is a letter."

"A letter?"

"Yep. Just put it all down on paper. Write a letter to Sam. Tell him everything that you really want to say to him. Your thoughts, your fears, your reasons for dealing with things the way that you are-"

"But I can't write to him!"

"Let me finish! You write down everything and you write down the absolute truth. Then what you do with the letter is up to you. If you want you can send it to Sam. If you want you can seal it in an envelope and burn it over the stove as soon as you finish writing. What you do with the letter doesn't matter. This isn't about Sam it's about YOU! You've held too much inside for too long and it's eating you up. You need to release it or it will destroy you. You've already changed as a person and as your friends we want to help. But you need to start by helping yourself."

"So I just write it all down? I don't have to tell anybody?"

"Nope. If you want you can keep it and show it to somebody. But the important thing is not who sees it, it's the process of you putting all the things down on paper that you've kept inside. It will eat you if you don't let it out."

Mercedes considered it for a moment. This was way less intrusive than another cat intervention. "Will you help me?"

"No Cedes. I can't. This is private and it's all about you. I'm going to leave you now so that you can get on with it in peace and privacy."

She nodded as he rose from his seat and reached round to hug her. "I do love you, you know!"

She nodded "I do know. And I don't mean to be so silly sometimes."

He nodded. "I know that too. I just want to be able to tell Sam that you're doing ok. That's all he's asking for. He's not putting any pressure on you."

"I know. It's my turn to sort myself out. Thanks for this Kurt."

"No problem. This is what friends are for!"

* * *

Mercedes was sat at her desk. It had been more than an hour that she'd been sat there, staring at the huge piece of paper in front of her, wondering how on earth she was going to fill it.

In the last forty five minutes she had managed two words. _Dear Sam. _Hardly a flying start! It's not that she didn't know what to say, it's more that it was such a crazy jumble of information that she didn't know where to start!

With her pen she started to draw little doodles round the page. Hearts, stars, flowers. And more hearts. It calmed her. It helped her focus.

And suddenly, what felt like an age later, she finally began...

_Dear Sam_

_I hope you're doing okay. I decided to write this letter with pen and paper because it gives me time to organize my thoughts. I don't want to keep editing as I go. I want to just tell you the truth. The whole truth._

_I don't really know where to start with this. Okay so maybe I do. I need to start by apologizing. A big apology. A massive one. For not staying in touch. I know you wanted to. And I know that you've tried really hard. But I've been a completely selfish bitch. Every email, missed call, voicemail and letter was read and heard a thousand times. I promise you that from the bottom of my heart. I just couldn't bring myself to reply._

_Okay so I also have to say right now that I'm sorry if this letter gets a bit rambling. I'm just writing as it pours out of my head because for the first time since we broke up I'm just trying to be completely honest. Honest with you and more importantly, honest with myself. Besides, you of all people know about rambling on when you're feeling nervous. It's one of the things I loved about you. Still do actually. But I'll get to that in a bit._

_This whole letter is Kurt's fault. It was his suggestion. I know he's in touch with you. He's tried so hard to get through to me about you and all I've been doing is brushing him aside. The truth is that all I ever want to do is to talk to him about you and ask him about you. But I'm scared Sam. I don't know why but I am. You opened up so many new feelings in me. Right now I can just about keep a lid on them but I don't think it will last. _

_I'm broken._

_Because I never got to tell you that I love you. Loved you. No, definitely love you._

_I know now that you said it. It was as I was already shutting the door that fateful day. I only half heard the words and I didn't understand the Na'vi. But I've watched Avatar so many times since you've been gone that I know now. I should have said it back. I would have if I understood. Or maybe I wouldn't. I don't know. Would it even have made a difference? We were only together a few weeks. What would we know of love? All this time I was trying to do the right thing. What I thought was the right thing. Breaking up with you was hard. In my head it was like ripping off a Band-Aid. Pull once, hard, and be done with it. Then the scab will form, the pain will ease and I will heal._

_So that's what I did. That final kiss should have been our forever goodbye. But every time you called, or emailed or tried to reach me in some other way, it was like you were picking at that scab. I wanted to hear your voice so much. I wanted to tell you how I felt about you. But surely that would only make things worse?_

_You're six hundred miles and a couple of states away but it feels like you're at the opposite end of the universe._

_I know I could try and come to see you. But I don't want to see you there in that other place. Seeing you there makes this breakup real. I want to see you here, in Lima. With me. I want you with me on the couch in the den watching Doctor Who with you in that crazy sexy Superman t-shirt. I want you whispering things in my ear that make me blush. I wish the TARDIS was real so that it could take us back to your motel room. To before that phone rang. I know you were always saying that I'm beautiful. But that was when you made me feel it. And I mean _really_ feel it._

_You were the first boy I kissed. The first boy I truly opened my heart to. And every night when I close my eyes to sleep I'm transported back to that afternoon. The way you looked, the way your skin smelled, the way your body felt, the way you stared at me with such desire in your eyes. I should have been scared but I wasn't. Because I trusted you. And because I loved you. And now I question myself. What if we hadn't been interrupted? What if we knew we only had five weeks. Would we still have taken things so slowly? There's a part of me that wishes we hadn't and that scares me! I can't believe that I regret wasting so much time._

_Damn you for being so lovely and kind and patient! I know it's what we both thought we needed at the time but by doing the right thing we were so wrong._

_I know that you know about Shane. And I know I have no explanation. I can't defend myself especially so soon after you. Even my parents expressed concern. Would it make sense to say that I was only with him because I missed you? Because that's exactly what it was. But I got it wrong. I got things very wrong. I was in a dark place when I got back from Florida. Then he came and he told me I was beautiful and I remembered what you said to me when we spent our last moments together in the park. About meeting someone who thought I was beautiful. I convinced myself that it was you giving me permission to move on. And maybe you were. But not like that. Never like that._

_I felt you'd ripped my future away from me (because yes I did see our future - I saw it before we even began. I dreamed of a family with you.) And then he came and he offered me something that could have been an alternative. At most second best but still better than the darkness I was in. The darkness made me blind to his true motives._

_I was hurt and I was lost and I felt that I had nobody to turn to so I turned in the wrong direction. And for that I'm sorry. I truly am. _

_I'm sorry for what I said to Jacob Ben Israel about you being 'so June'. It was as much a lie to myself as it was to everyone else. June was and always will be the highlight of my life._

_I'm sorry for rolling my eyes (because I know you would have seen it and you would have noticed even though I had no idea I did it at the time)._

_I'm sorry for you finding out the way that you did._

_I'm sorry for not taking the advice of our friends who warned me about him and his negative influence on me._

_A wise feline once asked me a question that cut me like a knife through my belly. He asked: 'Are you blaming Sam for something that's not his fault and taking your anger and frustration out on others?' And I found I couldn't answer him. Because the truth was I knew the answer but I wasn't yet prepared to accept it. But now I am. And so I apologize again. I didn't realize I was doing it but I did blame you. I blamed you for accepting the situation so well. For not fighting it as much as I thought you should have. For not fighting for me as much as I thought you could have. I knew that you were right. I knew that you were making wise and sensible decisions. I know that you had thought things through and everything you said made complete sense. But I decided that I didn't want to hear it. I decided that I didn't want to accept it. Being with you had made me be more mature but losing you sent me straight back to square one._

_Sam. My beautiful big-hearted Sam. I think about you all the time. Silly little things keep popping into my head. Things that make me smile. Just yesterday I was thinking about Kurt's face when we started kissing after we went on the double date with them. That line he said about my lip gloss being part of my look, not a second dessert for you. And how you just winked at me because you knew that when we got back in the car I'd re-apply it just for you to take it off all over again! I think about your smile. I think about running my fingers through your hair. And I think about your eyes. I think about your eyes a lot. You could never hide behind those eyes. They showed like a window when you were tired, or sad, or angry or downright horny!_

_Horny! Horny! Horny! Remember I would get so embarrassed and not be able to use that word? It's so much easier to write it down than it is to say. And it was impossible to say when you were looking at me the way that you sometimes did. When you thought I wasn't looking. You're such an ass man and I loved it. Sometimes just the way you looked at me could make me shiver with pleasure._

_And most of all I think of you when I close my eyes at night. I think of you shirtless. All wet from your post work shower. And among other things I feel regret._

_Being with you made me want to be a better person. A more mature person. Somewhere along the way I managed to lose that and hurt the ones I love. From today I promise to work on getting that back._

_I will always love you and you will always hold a place in my heart._

_Because you are my first love. You are the impossibly high benchmark to which all future relationships will he held up against. And wherever the future may take us, and wherever our lives my lead years down the line, that cannot be taken away._

_I don't regret a single moment we spent together._

_Forever Your Mercy_

* * *

It was dark by the time she finished writing and she was emotionally exhausted. Without realizing she'd managed to cover nearly eight sides of letter paper in her large loopy writing and her wrist was hurting. Without re-reading what she'd written, she found an empty envelope and stuffed the folded pages into it.

Now what?

She instantly knew that she didn't want to burn it or destroy it. She'd put too much effort into all the writing for that. But neither was it meant to be read.

She quickly sealed the envelope before she could have second thoughts, and wrote Sam's name on the front. Then she quickly added his new address from memory.

After sitting, staring tearfully at the envelope for nearly thirty minutes, she pulled up a chair, grabbed her box of Sam memories, tenderly kissed the envelope, put the letter in and quickly locked it back up.

Then with a sigh she put everything back in its place.

Yes she did feel a little better for having written down her feelings.

And now the letter was safely locked away.

Out of sight but not out of mind...

Gone but not forgotten...


	13. That's What Friends Are For

Within twenty four hours Mercedes was starting to feel the benefit of having written her letter.

Now that she'd apologized to Sam (in her own way - resolving that the letter would be re-read, re written and sent as soon as she felt up to it), she knew that she now needed to make things good with her friends. Because they _were_ here friends. That damn cat was right yet again. Even though she'd turned her back on them and refused to heed their warnings they'd still looked out for her, and when things had hit the fan, they still had her back.

Now she just needed a way to show that she wanted to make it up to them and thank them. Ordinarily she would sing them a song, but she was no longer in the New Directions. But what else could she for them?

What did they all like?

That was easy.

Food!

And in particular, _her_ food!

She leaped up from her bed and flew down the stairs.

"Mom? Mom? Can I have a barbeque this Saturday for the Glee club?" She'd as yet failed to tell her parents the minor detail of her now no longer being a member of the aforementioned club...

Her mom looked up from the food that she was preparing in the kitchen and smiled at her daughter, recognizing a light in her eyes that hadn't been there for a while and having no desire to extinguish it.

"Sure honey. It's no problem with me. But check with your dad first before you start inviting people. You know how protective he gets over that grill!"

Mercedes threw her arms around her mom in a spontaneous embrace and Alicia grinned before beating her off with a spoon. "Stop trying to put your fingers in the bowl!"

"I'm just so excited!"

"Don't be. You haven't had a definite yes yet!"

Mercedes smiled, knowing that she was totally able to get the required yes from her dad with very little effort at all.

"The last time we had a barbeque here you had a long face the whole time. How will this be any different?"

"There'll be no blue cheese dressing at this one!" Mercedes smiled cryptically as she made her way from her mom towards her dad's office.

* * *

Mercedes lifted up her eyes from her Spanish homework to see her father's face peeking round her door and her face immediately lit up. "Did you find it?"

She was met with a nod.

Michael Jones quickly crossed the room and sat on the bed next to his daughter. Alicia was right, there _was_ a light in her smile that had been missing since the day they'd left for Florida. The day that they'd had watched her heart being broken by circumstances beyond her control. And now she looked up at him with and expression of almost childish excitement as he crossed the room, a quiet squeal of delight passing her lips.

As he sat, he handed over the small rectangular instrument with a smile. "You know it took me ages to find this. I haven't touched it for years!"

Mercedes turned the harmonica over and over in her hands, remembering the hours she used to spend with her dad learning how to play. It had never interested JJ, but for some reason she'd been fascinated when she heard her dad playing and singing the blues in the yard when he wanted to relax when she was small, and she'd always wanted to be able to recreate that sound. Luckily he was happy to teach her, knowing that the diaphragm breathing would also be good for her singing. But like all little girls, the phase had passed and she hadn't touched one for years.

"And where is your own, may I ask?"

She giggled shyly as she shrugged. "I haven't seen it for years. I knew you'd find yours faster."

He should have been angry but somehow his little girl always managed to find a way to get what she wanted from him with very little resistance. And quite frankly it was nice to hear her giggle again. There'd been too little of that in the Jones household recently.

"So why the sudden need for the instrument?"

"I wanted to sing something special for my friends when they come on Saturday. They've been really good to me at a time when I didn't deserve it and I wanted to say thanks."

Michael was tempted to ask more but decided to leave that to Alicia. Instead he went for the safer option. "Okay, so what are you planning to sing?"

When she told him he broke out into a smile and pulled her into an embrace. "That's a great choice. They'll love it. And I have a surprise for you!"

"What is it?"

He took the harmonica back and started to play the introduction to her chosen song.

"Oh my god you already know it! Will you teach me?"

"Sure. But you have to finish your homework first."

"Okay dad. Sure."

He left the instrument on the bed and crossed back to the door where he paused, unable to fight the temptation. "I notice Shane wasn't at church today."

Mercedes stayed silent so he continued. "I heard he was involved in some sort of fight at school during the week. I'm not sure that it's such a good idea for you to be spending too much time with him." Michael Jones wasn't stupid. His office looked out towards the front door. He knew what was going on. At least he thought he did. He watched his daughter sigh, losing the smile that had reappeared after such a long absence and he regretted bringing up the subject.

"You don't need to worry dad. He and I don't see eye to eye on the important issues in life. He won't be spending another second in my company if he knows what's good for him!"

The edge in her voice caused him to instantly believe her. Whatever had gone down, her mind was made up. And as he really hadn't warmed to the guy he wasn't sorry. For some reason there was always something that he couldn't quite put his finger on with Shane. Sam had been a perfect gentleman, making the effort to try and get to know him and his wife as well as their daughter, but Shane had never seen them as important and it hadn't sat well with him at all.

He could sense by the change in Mercedes' body language that she no longer wanted to speak on the subject. And knowing his daughter, he did have suspicions as to whether the fighting had anything to do with her but he knew better than to broach the subject right now.

It was something he could happily leave to Alicia and let her fill him in on it later. It wouldn't surprise him if his daughter had actually inflicted some of his injures if he'd upset her in anyway. He knew that it was possible for her to get that mad and JJ was living proof of it! Halfway through the door he turned and smiled at her and she smiled back. "Good to see you smiling again Mercy."

"I love you too daddy!"

* * *

"Quinn! Wait up! Can I talk to you for a second?"

The blond spun and turned to her, slightly hesitant. "Sure Cedes. What's up?"

"Er – are you doing anything later? I was hoping maybe we could go and grab a coffee after school today?"

Quinn looked at her, surprised. This was the first time that Mercedes had actively sought her out since she'd said her piece on the first day of school. She shrugged, "Sure." Then she thought about it more and smiled, "Lima Bean?"

Mercedes smile in return was a mixture of happiness and relief. "Where else?"

They grinned and parted ways.

"Hey Cedes!" Quinn had barely turned the corner out of sight before Mercedes heard Puck's voice from behind. She spun around to see him heading towards her, his arm around Lauren's shoulder and hers around his waist. In any other couple it would look like the guy was protecting the girl, but with those two, nothing was ever as it seemed.

"Hey Puck, you didn't reply to my text!"

"I know. Before I gave my answer I wanted to check with you in person that there will definitely both ribs _and_ wings with the Jones' secret seasoning on Saturday."

Mercedes grinned. "There'll be plenty. But I also promise to make sure there'll be an extra bowl of them, reserved exclusively for you and Lauren!"

He shot a grin to his girlfriend that said, 'I told you so,' before fist bumping Mercedes. "Count us in!"

She reached up to him and pulled him in to a hug. "Just think of it as an extra thank you for you guys taking such good care of Shane for me."

"Well in that case-" Lauren elbowed Puck to the side to get her share of the hug. "Squeezing skinny girls just isn't the same is it!"

"Hell to the no!" Cried both Mercedes and Puck at the same time and all three fell apart laughing.

She spent the rest of the day taking food request from her friends. Finn stayed true to form and requested cookies, Blaine pestered her for bruschetta as Kurt had spent the weekend raving about what she'd fed him, Artie gently reminded her to make sure there would be Kosher items, Rachel gently reminded her to include plenty of vegetarian items and even Tina had put in a request, for couscous salad of all things. (Because although Tina tended to be quiet, she was always full of surprises.)

And now she was sat in Lima Bean, sipping her caramel macchiato, an extra hot skinny latte sprinkled with chocolate powder on top in front of the seat opposite her.

Before she had the chance to feel nervous, she saw the blond head heading towards her. She waved towards the seat and the drink. Quinn slipped gracefully into the seat with a sigh.

"How was Glee?"

"Mr Schue is going on and on about Sectionals but we can't seem to decide what we want to do. We really miss you there you know. I'm sure you could come back if you really wanted to."

"I'm not sure Mr Schue would want me."

"Of course he wants you. He misses you like mad. He practically says so every class."

Mercedes nodded slowly and took a sip of her drink.

Quinn eyed her carefully and took a long gulp from her own. It was amazing how she never seemed to burn her tongue on the scalding hot liquid.

They sat in silence for a while before Quinn finally broke it.

"Why am I here Mercedes?"

She exhaled slowly. "Because I owe you an apology. I owe _everyone_ an apology but I wanted to do yours on the one to one. I know things haven't been great between us since you moved out after Beth's birth, but you came to me with an olive branch and I just shoved it aside and I'm sorry. I was angry that after practically ignoring me for a year you were trying to get up into my business. I didn't actually listen to your words. I just saw your anger but I chose not to see where it came from."

"I don't blame you. I _have_ treated you badly over the last year and I guess I had no right to say things the way I did. I just didn't want to see somebody else hurting you the way I hurt you. Plus I was angry for Sam." She looked as though she was going to say something else but changed her mind. "I've been trying to make things right with you, Beth, Shelby and even Puck. I know it's too late to change the things that have happened but it's never too late to try and become a better person."

"And I need to be taking a leaf out of your book right now." They sat silently for a moment and Mercedes took another sip of her drink. "How did we get like this?"

Quinn shrugged. "I don't know. We've both had a rough year. I've been missing my daughter and I know that you've been missing Kurt and feeling lonely. You can't hide that from me. I _do_ know you. How about we shove it all under the carpet and start again?"

"I'd love that."

Quinn grinned and grabbed her hand across the table. "Friends?"

"Friends!"

"I thought this conversation was going to be so much harder!"

"So did I!"

"And now we're friends again…"

"Okay I know you're going to want to talk about Sam... To be honest I was surprised by what you said that day. I expected to be mad that we'd been together but you weren't."

"I won't lie. Sam was the best thing that ever happened to me besides Beth. But I let my selfishness and insecurity ruin things and I hurt him in the process. I'll always regret doing that. Being with him was great but however cute we may have looked on the outside, we were never a perfect fit. We tried to make it fit but we're just too different. It wasn't instant chemistry with us. He had to woo me. He needed me as much as I needed him. When things went wrong with his family and his home, he worked out what were the really important things in his life and made them his focus. You must have been really special to him because it was during that time that he found you. When I think of it now, I see a lot of you in him. That's the reason I said I knew why I understand how he could have fallen for you. Your minds work the same way. You would find his impressions funny where I found them annoying. And your heart is huge. I'm amazed that I didn't notice it happen, but it was so obvious when we went away for Nationals that he had feelings for you. Sam's pretty transparent like that."

Mercedes chuckled. "Yeah he is!"

"So why did you say what you did? If Sam sees that clip it'll break his heart. And nobody in their right mind moves straight from a guy like Sam to an oaf like Shane!"

"I have no defense. I wasn't in my right mind. I was lying to myself as much as I was to everyone else. I thought that being with somebody was better than being with nobody!"

Quinn clutched her hand tighter. "Oh Cedes! Been there, done that, lesson learned the hard way! This year I'm going to stay single and focus on me!"

"Amen to that!" Mercedes held up her cup. "Here's to single life and friendship!"

As they clinked cups their eyes both turned at the same time towards the cake counter…

* * *

The week passed quickly and before she knew it Saturday afternoon had arrived. For the first time since Sam's departure Mercedes had dragged herself away from watching Doctor Who and spent the whole morning cooking, refusing any help from her mom. There were chicken wings, thighs and drumsticks, ribs and fish that needed seasoning as well as, burgers, hot dogs, corn and vegetable skewers to prepare before the sides of salads including the couscous, cornbread and biscuits! There were also several batches of different flavored cookies with a small selection of each wrapped in cellophane pouches for her guests to take away with them. Then there were also the fruit pies still in the oven and the home-made ice cream in the maker that she really hoped would be set in time for when they came to eat it.

Artie was the first to arrive and she wheeled him out to the yard where he sat rolled happily over to the grill to chat with her dad. Next came Puck and Lauren. As Lauren had never been to her home before she got the guided tour and Puck got the narrowed eyes from her mom for staying upstairs so long alone with Lauren and coming down looking flustered.

Next came Quinn who insisted on helping out in the kitchen when there really wasn't much to be done. Most of the work had been prep for the grill and marinating but there was still some setting out to do as well as the job of keeping Finn away from the cookies once he had arrived!

Once the grilling had finished and Michael Jones was satisfied that the kids wouldn't cause a fire they left for a date so that the kids could have some time on their own, with the strong assurance that they would return at 10 so there was to be no partying or loud noise.

At this point nobody was up for partying. Eleven people had consumed enough food to feed fifty and there was still piles left. The problem being everyone was now too full to move.

The sun was setting and they were all sat, lounging around in chairs around the grill. Puck had brought his guitar and was strumming on it quietly.

"This feels like old days!" Finn commented contentedly.

The others nodded their agreement.

Mercedes looked round at her friends before running into the house to fetch the harmonica. When she returned she perched onto the same lounge seat that Quinn was on and took a deep breath before speaking.

"Everyone, I have something I need to say to you all." Ten pairs of eyes instantly turned their focus onto her and she felt more nervous that she had before performing at nationals. "Firstly I want to thank you all for coming today. I realize that recently my behavior hasn't been the best. I've acted like a complete bitch and I haven't appreciated how special each and every one of you is to me." She bit her lip nervously as they waited silently for her to continue. "I've been through a lot since the summer and instead of accepting your help and your kindness I pushed you all away. And for that I am sorry. I was too blinded by my own pain to see what I was doing to others. But you guys never left me. Even in my darkest hour when I'd allowed myself to be convinced to abandon you, you still rallied round and helped me in my hour of need. I'll never forget that. You are my friends. You are my musical family. And even though this is our senior year and we don't know where we'll all be and what life might be holding for us this time next year, I just wanted to say how much I love you all and I've missed you and you will always be special in my heart."

Quinn put her arm around her shoulder as she felt her voice wobble.

"I know I'm no longer in Glee club but I still want to sing you a song. It's an old song but it sums up how I feel about to you all. I know we all have our problems and our disagreements but deep down we all love each other and that will never change."

She took a deep breath and held the harmonica to her lips as she played the familiar introduction.

_And I, Never thought I'd feel this way_

_And as far as I'm concerned I'm glad I got the chance to say  
That I do believe, I love you  
And if I should ever go away  
Well, then close your eyes and try To feel the way we do today  
And then if you can remember_

_Keep smiling, keep shining Knowing you can always count on me, for sure  
That's what friends are for  
For good times and bad times I'll be on your side forever more  
That's what friends are for_

As she played the harmonica for the interlude, Artie rolled over and took the next line:

_Well, you came in loving me And now there's so much more I see  
And so by the way I thank you_

Next in was Kurt:

_Oh and then for the times when we're apart  
Well, then close your eyes and know The words are coming from my heart  
And then if you can remember_

Not to be outdone, Puck joined them:

_Keep smiling and keep shining Knowing you can always count on me, for sure  
That's what friends are for In good times and bad times I'll be on your side forever more  
That's what friends are for_

While rubbing Mercedes' back Quinn took the next chorus:

_Keep smiling, keep shining Knowing you can always count on me, for sure  
That's what friends are for For good times and bad times  
I'll be on your side forever more That's what friends are for_

By now everybody knew the words and joined in, swaying to the music:

_Keep smiling, keep shining Knowing you can always count on me, for sure  
'Cause I tell you, that's what friends are for  
Whoa, good times and the bad times I'll be on your side forever more  
That's what friends are for_

Then Mercedes raised the harmonica to her lips one last time to end the song, her eyes streaked with tears.

The song ended and the whole group embraced.

* * *

**_Aaaaw... Mushy mushy friend stuff..._**

**_Song used was 'That's What Friends Are For' by Dionne Warwick + friends inc Stevie Wonder on harmonica._**


	14. Supermodels

It was three months since the barbeque and Mercedes was starting to feel good about herself again. She was back in Glee club and they'd stormed to first place at Sectionals with their rehearsed version of That's What Friends Are For, complete with Ms Jones on the harmonica.

Now the holidays had passed and Regionals were rapidly approaching.

This week they were working on duets. Mr Schue had picked the partnerships in order to break up the 'couples' in the group. It was also an exercise in working at improving their relationships within the club ahead of Regionals. The task was to find something they shared in common and sing about it. Mercedes had been put together with Lauren. She struggled to hide her disappointment at the pairing. Everyone knew that Lauren could neither sing nor dance and was only there to make up the numbers. She didn't even truly know what her taste in music was sufficed to say that it probably would be highly incompatible with her own. And they really had nothing in common apart from a hatred of being bossed around.

And now here she was, in Lauren's bedroom, steaming mugs of hot chocolate in hand, trying desperately to come up with song ideas.

Lauren's house had not been at all as she had expected it to be. It was smaller and extremely homely. She lived with her mom and two younger siblings, nine year old twin girls. Her room was an even bigger surprise. Just like the rest of the house it was soft and feminine. Not in a pink way because the color scheme was actually more of a water-like green and blue hues, but things like the gingham detail on the curtain tiebacks which matched the bedside lamp and the extra cushions on the bed betrayed much thought.

"You expected my room to be dark with pictures of wrestlers on the walls didn't you?" Lauren looked at her with a searching expression.

Mercedes was too in shock to hide it and simply nodded, eyes wide, taking in every detail of the room.

Lauren made a non-committal sound before sitting on the bed and motioning Mercedes to join her. "It's a bit hard not to be feminine when you live in a house of four girls!" She pushed her glasses higher up on her nose and looked wistful. "Besides, I'm pretty sure I could give Kurt a run for his money when it comes to interior design. People just don't expect it of me and I don't advertise my skill. There's more to me than just Puck and wrestling, although they are the greatest loves in my life."

Mercedes was extremely surprised. The surprise then gave way to embarrassment when she realized that she hadn't really made much of an effort to know anything about this girl at all.

Lauren put her remarkably quickly drained mug to the side and crossed the room to retrieve her laptop from her desk.

As she moved across the room Mercedes noticed something different about her. "Have you lost weight?"

Lauren froze for a second before turning to her. "Yes. The doc says too much of my weight is around my belly. But you're the first person besides Puck to notice."

Mercedes nodded and said nothing. It was something that had concerned her about herself too but she had never let on to anyone. She smiled at Lauren. "Well I think you're doing really well."

The larger girl smiled. "Thanks." But as quickly as the smile had arrived it disappeared. "But don't think I'm going all skinny assed! Puck likes a fat bottomed girl and I like being one!" There was no way that Lauren Zizes was ever going to give up being a badass!

Mercedes' reply to that was a fist bump and a grin. "Here's to keeping it real and knowing what men like!" But in her head all she could think of was Sam's obsession with her own behind. "Maybe that's what we should sing about!"

Lauren narrowed her eyes. "I'm not singing Fat Bottomed Girls!" Puck was still paying penance for that particular humiliation.

Mercedes was taken aback. "Hell to the no! I'm not suggesting that! I was thinking maybe we could do a song about not having to conform. Just because we don't fit the 'Cheerio' mold, it doesn't mean that men aren't interested in us. Real men. And quite frankly, I'm tired of always being compared!"

"Exactly. Look at us. I'm with Puck and you dated Sam. The two hottest guys in McKinley! So why are we still made to feel that we're any less gorgeous and worthy than the other girls? We beat them to the best men for heaven's sake! And we don't resemble supermodels!"

Mercedes nodded into her hot chocolate. "So what shall we sing?"

Both girls were quiet for a while as Mercedes scrolled through her iPod and Lauren trawled through YouTube on her laptop.

"Any joy?" Mercedes shook her head. She'd been through her entire collection and come up with nothing. Lauren wasn't looking too confident either. Then she suddenly perked up.

"Oh my god I have an idea! How about we rock it out?"

"You weren't around for the whole Start Me Up/Living On A Prayer mash up were you? You're about to find out Mercedes Jones can definitely rock it! What do you have in mind?"

"There's this series I used to watch online years ago…" Lauren was typing furiously into the computer. "Ok so this was the theme tune. What do you think?" She turned up the volume to full and let her have a listen.

By the end of the first chorus Mercedes was grinning. "Yep. That is sooo the one! So how do you want to split this?"

"Well, was well as other things... Puck has been giving me vocal lessons over the last few months. Obviously I'm nowhere near your league but I'm pretty sure I can take some of the verses as long as you do the big chorus parts."

Mercedes grinned and nodded. "Yeah I think we could definitely rock this..."

* * *

"Okay, so next up to present are Mercedes and Lauren!"

Puck whooped and wolf whistled as they rose from their seats and stepped to the front, fully made up and looking fierce wearing little black dresses.

"Mr Schue," said Mercedes, "We want to sing about something that is important to us. Neither of us fit the standard description of beauty. But that doesn't make us any less deserving of acceptance or worthy of love. Just because we don't look like your classic supermodels it doesn't mean that there aren't those who still find us beautiful, including ourselves. But it's hard having to deal with the comparisons day after day. And just because someone may look like they do fit the mold from the outside, they may still be having their own personal struggles and insecurities on the inside. So this is a song about the way we feel about the pressure girls like us are put under."

Mr Schue nodded to them to continue and Lauren turned and indicated to the band to start.

The room was filled with the sound of loud electric guitars.

They walked over to the two standing microphones.

Mercedes went first.

_The summer sun has come to stay Bikinis, tans, outrageous legs  
They're all retarded and they all look the same!  
And Barbie's body's melting down On her face a big fat frown  
Because "Mr. Cellulite" just moved into town_

_Well me and Z, we hate supermodels It's not that we know anyone personally  
It's just that I'm tired of being compared!_

Lauren came in with the next verse

_The boys they come here With expectations for the summer  
And I refuse to take any part of this barbaric ritual!  
Because God has given me a mind That I will use from time to time  
And I got more on my head than what's made by Paul Mitchell_

And Mercedes returned to belt the chorus

_Well me and Z, we hate supermodels It's not that we know anyone personally  
It's just that I'm tired of being compared_

Lauren practically shouted the next words

_Was it worth the tears you cried to fit the size?  
Think it over once or twice What lasts the longest in this life  
Character or rock hard thighs?_

Mercedes replied back to her

_And in the end do you believe that beauty lies in what you see?  
Because if you do then baby You've been deceived!_

The final chorus they sang together

_Well me and Z, we hate supermodels It's not that we know anyone personally  
It's just that we're tired of being compared!_

The whole time they had danced around their mikes like poles and made supermodel 'vogue' moves.

As the music died they high-fived and shouted "Yeah!"

The room exploded with cheering and applause and Puck ran straight up and shamelessly started making out with Lauren right in front of everyone...

* * *

Mercedes drove home with Sam on her mind. He'd been a constant feature in her consciousness since Lauren had mentioned his name. But she knew it wasn't just that. It was the whole body image thing. Sam had loved her body just as it was. He'd been supportive and whenever she had spoken negatively about herself he was always quick to give reassurance. There was no doubt in her mind that he loved her body. From the way that he looked at her and the way that he touched her it was more than obvious.

The great irony was that one of the first big conversations they had had, early in their blossoming friendship, was her telling him how she was secure in her own self and helping him to get over his own body issues. Luckily he was mature and understanding enough to know that body confidence is something that ebbs and flows like the waves of the sea. Some days you feel good about yourself, and the next day you don't for no particular reason. She'd helped him that day and he had helped her many days after that.

Sam Evans… She still felt a dull ache in her chest when she thought of him and how much she missed him and wondered what he was doing right now…

* * *

She stared down at the pouch lying on her desk. Attached on top was a note from her mom.

_I've printed some pictures because I needed to make space on the memory card and I thought you might like some of these x_

There was quite a thick pile of photos inside. They were in reverse order with the most recent being on top. There were pictures of Mercedes and the family at home, and with various church events.

Then came the pictures from Florida. Mercedes and JJ playing with their cousins and hanging on the beach. There was a distinct lack of smiles on her face in most of those pictures. A couple more pictures from some dental event that must have been put in her pile by accident. She took them out and put them to the side. Then it was pictures from…

Prom…

Pre-prom to be specific. The first pic (last taken) was of all four of them, arms around one another, posing by the front door. The next was of her and Rachel, all smiles, holding their corsages up to the camera. Without moving the picture Mercedes knew what was coming next. She moved over to sit on her bed before taking a deep breath and releasing it slowly. The then moved on to the next photo. She and Sam looking very much like a couple smiled back up at her. His arm was wrapped casually around her shoulder and his smile was bright. The tightness in her chest was almost unbearable and she had to grab her box of facial tissues to prevent her tears from ruining any of the pictures. She moved quickly to the next. A duplicate. The next was very similar except instead of looking straight at the camera like she was, Sam seemed to be taking a sneaky peek at her out of the corner of his eye. How did she not even notice that? Regardless, he wasn't even interested in her at that point! _'But I still thought you looked beautiful!'_ She could hear his voice reverberating around her head, saying the line he always said when discussing that night.

The next picture was of the two of them again. Looking slightly more nervous. Sam's hands were at his side and his fists appeared to be clenched with nerves. Her dad had taken that particular one and he hadn't known what to do with himself in front of the man! He'd yet to relax into the picture taking.

The next couple were of Mercedes on the stairs. Smiling. Just days before she'd honestly believed that she wouldn't have this Cinderella on the stairs moment and yet here she was. She smiled as she remembered how she'd been on that staircase for what felt like nearly ten minutes as her parents tried to get the picture just right. Their only daughter had only one first prom, and they were determined to do this properly! Next picture was in her room as she stepped into her shoes preparing to go downstairs.

The next picture surprised her. It was of Sam standing alone at the bottom of the stairs looking nervous and expectant. She hadn't known about this picture. She couldn't have as she would have been upstairs at the time. His lips had the look like he had just licked them, something he constantly did when he was nervous, and he was absently fingering his bolo tie. Her dad must have taken it just before bringing the camera upstairs.

Most of the prom pictures were in duplicate. As Sam had no camera her mom had promised to make copies for Sam knowing that Rachel and Jesse would have had ones taken by their own families. Now that she had the pictures she knew that she had to send them.

It had been playing on her mind for weeks that she still hadn't sent Sam's letter. She just couldn't bring herself to touch her 'box of Sam' yet.

But today she had to. She'd promised to give him the prom photos and she had to keep her word.

With a heavy sigh she took a chair and used a ruler to prise the box away from the far corner of the top of the wardrobe where she'd pushed it, to a place where she could safely reach it and bring it down.

After deciding that she still wasn't ready to face the full contents of the box, she quickly retrieved the letter which luckily was still lying on top, before locking the box and pushing it back up out of sight.

After sitting at her desk for nearly an hour, staring at the envelope and wondering if she should open the letter and edit it or send it as is, she finally made a decision. The letter contained the honest truth. Nothing in it should be changed. She ran to her father's office and pinched a slightly larger envelope. Once back in her room she copied the address from the other envelope on to it and stuffed the letter inside together with the duplicate photos. She debated adding a new letter of her own but settled for a sticky note apologising for the delay, and letting him know these were his prom night duplicates.

Before she could have any regrets she sealed the new envelope. It then sat on her desk while she mustered up the courage to mail it.

* * *

After seeing the envelope on Mercedes' desk for three days, addressed and ready to go, Alicia Jones made an assumption.

Mercedes was always forgetting to buy stamps.

She picked up the envelope, smiling when she saw the name on top and feeling pictures inside. She added it to her pile of work correspondence to be posted out later that afternoon...

* * *

**_Featured song: Supermodels by Kendal Payne _**


	15. Our Day Will Come

Mercedes was in a state complete panic.

The moment she had walked in her room and seen the letter missing from her desk, she'd realized what had happened and her legs literally gave way beneath her.

Yes she had been going to post the letter, but it was going to be on her terms. And although she was nearly ready, she wasn't quite there yet! She'd just about resolved to re write the letter to sound a little more structured and was still working herself up to reading it for the first time. And the fact that Glee had been after school, followed by coffee with Kurt meant that that the day's mail would have been long gone.

Calling after her mom would have made no difference. The deed had been done. She settled for staying in the spot where she had sunk to the floor, clutching her knees to her chest, taking deep gasping breaths and letting the tears flow.

The sending of the letter could not be reversed.

Bur what would his reaction be?

Time had passed.

What if Sam had moved on?

What if he didn't love her anymore?

What if he thought that she was a fool for the things she'd written?

And why, after the passing of months, was she _still_ an emotional wreck over him? The beautiful boy who had been hers for only a few weeks.

It was too late to take anything back now.

And to think she'd written the letter in such a state of high emotion that she couldn't even clearly remember what it contained!

There was only one person that she could speak to about this and he was currently busy having dinner with Blaine's family. Did this constitute enough of an emergency to call him?

She opted for a text.

Mercedes: Mom sent the letter!

With lightning speed she received a reply.

Kurt: BREATHE!

Easier said than done…

Another text followed it just as rapidly.

Kurt: I'll call you as soon as I can!

It couldn't come soon enough as far as Mercedes was concerned.

She now had to go downstairs and pretend in front of her mom that it didn't matter that she'd sent the letter without asking. It wasn't her fault. Her mom knew that she was going to send Sam the duplicate photos and they were all in the same envelope. She didn't want to overreact and generate more questions than she cared to answer right now.

But it was all just so hard… Surely it shouldn't be this hard?

* * *

Kurt's assurances did nothing to dispel the constant feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach. It had been nearly two weeks since the letter had been sent and there was still no word from Sam. He'd stopped trying to contact her a while back but she had figured that as soon as he had read the letter he would try again. It was her step at reopening their channel of communication. The longer that time dragged on, the more she made up in her head and the worse she felt.

And because of it she was unable to concentrate on anything.

She'd performed in the group number for Regionals but she knew that for the first time in her life her heart wasn't in it. It's not to say that her performance wasn't great, because it always was, and she was strictly professional throughout. But there was something massive weighing on her mind and stealing her joy.

Maybe she'd taken too long and had now reached the point where she was beyond Sam's forgiveness.

Or maybe he'd found himself a pretty little Southern Belle, and just like she'd felt when she was with Shane, that overwhelming sense of shame and betrayal was like a brick wall in their path.

She hoped not. That he hadn't opened his heart to someone new. Even though she knew she had no right to hope such a thing.

It would be Valentine's day in a next week. Would he be thinking of her then?

Kurt had been a rock throughout. He held her while she cried and listened to every irrational thought that spewed from her mouth without judging her. And through it all she wondered what she'd done to deserve such a good friend.

The biggest surprise to her had been Blaine. She should have known by the way that he acted as a calming buffer between her and Kurt during the depths of her relationship with Shane that he was something special. He had the ability to see beyond the obvious. She hadn't spent much time with him, but the more she did, the more insightful she realized he was.

He had a far more 'masculine' outlook on life. Confiding in Kurt was like chatting to another girl, but talking to Blaine was like a revelation. It was initially a shock when she got a text from him to meet for coffee one weekend while Kurt was visiting family out of town. It was the first time that she'd spent time with him without Kurt being present and she was nervous as hell, but he was so easy to talk to and pretty damn cute close up. Those eyebrows would still take getting used to but his eyes were nearly as incredible as Sam's. And that 'kink' in his hair always brought a smile to her face.

She could definitely see why her friend was so crazy about him. And just like with Lauren, she silently cursed herself for not making the effort to get to know better some of the people who were on the periphery of her life. She had started to try with Blaine. But jealousy had meant her trying was not nearly hard enough.

It was amazing how comfortable with Blaine she actually was. And although she'd assumed Kurt would have told him everything about her, clearly he hadn't and she was glad that it gave her the opportunity to open up to him. While Kurt was all softness, Blaine had an inner core which she really liked. And the boy gave damn good hugs as well!

They'd talked through her feelings and emotions as well as what Sam may have been going through too. She acknowledged how the way she'd acted would have made things harder for him but Blaine still believed that Sam would come through for her. And she really wanted to believe it too.

But the staunch silence from Sam was telling her otherwise.

She would just have to get on and get over this!

And as time slowly continued to move on, she concluded that Sam must hate her, and with good reason.

She hated being thought of badly by him, but at least it would help them get over each other faster.

* * *

The familiar sound of a Skype call suddenly came from Kurt's laptop and he turned to it quickly.

He didn't expect it to be Sam. It had been a while since they'd spoken and there'd been no communication at all since the letter was sent.

His finger hovered above the Accept button. Mercedes had begged him to call Sam but he was resolved not to interfere in this one. It was bigger than he was and there was no way that he wanted to be stuck in the middle. If Sam asked him difficult questions he didn't know what he would say.

On the other hand, he was also dying to know what Sam had to say for himself.

He hit Accept.

Sam's smiling face filled his screen. "Hey Kurt, it's been ages!"

Kurt forced a smile. "Yeah. How've you been?"

"Not bad. Just the usual routine of school, sports, dyslexia tutoring and Ollie's project. How were your holidays?"

Wow. It really had been a long time! "Yeah they were good. Blaine bought me a Dior scarf and Santa brought me everything else I wished for." He thought he noticed a sad look flash across Sam's face but it was gone as quickly as it had appeared. "How about you guys?"

"Yeah it was great. A proper family affair. And the kids got lots of gifts, mostly of the things that they'd had to give up when we moved to the motel."

"Sounds great!"

"Yeah it was. I never thought my family could have a happy time like that again!"

There was a slightly uncomfortable pause. "So how's everyone at McKinley?" Now _there_ was a loaded question...

Kurt answered honestly. "They're doing fine. We aced Sectionals and Regionals. And the football team's doing really well too."

Sam grinned. "I knew you guys would do it! Is Mr Schue still as clueless as ever?"

"Yep. He's totally distracted by his on-off relationship with Miss Pilsbury..." Kurt trailed off, no wanting to have brought up the subject of relationships in front of Sam. But it was too late. He saw the change in his friend's expression.

"Do you think I should send Mercedes a Valentine's card?" The words had flown out of his mouth in typical Sam Evans style. So _this_ was the real reason for his call!

It wasn't the question Kurt was expecting and it threw him off guard.

But Sam was continuing, "I know she'll probably ignore it like everything else, but out of everyone, despite everything she's the only person I want to send one to. Would it look too weird?... Yeah I guess you're right... It's a stupid idea-"

"No! I mean- I wasn't expecting you to ask that."

"What do you mean? It's next week and annoyingly for me it's all anyone ever talks about! The only good friends I have in life are you and Ollie and, no offence, but I wasn't planning to send either of you a card!"

Kurt chuckled. "None taken. Blaine would probably kick your ass if you did. No- scratch that – he'd probably get the Warblers to sing you to death!"

"Very true! Look- I didn't mean anything by wanting to send her the card. It's just that she told me she hated every year being the only girl who didn't get anything on that day. Even though we're not together anymore I can't bear the thought of her feeling forgotten!"

"I suppose I can see your point, although I do think that it is flawed."

"But would Mercedes..."

"I would have thought it depended on if there was anything in her letter to you that suggested she might be open to receiving something like that."

Sam leaned forward, his face now practically filling the screen, his expression confused. "Letter? What letter?"

Kurt swallowed. _This_ was unexpected. He'd wanted to confront Sam and yet somehow the other boy had the upper hand. Not once had the possibility crossed Kurt's mind that Sam may never actually have received the letter! He didn't get the chance to formulate a reply before Sam was at it again.

"Kurt what the hell are you talking about! I've had nothing from Mercedes apart from a partial email since I left. What's all this about a letter?"

Kurt struggled to find words but the verbal onslaught continued.

"Kurt? What was in the letter? When did she send it? Why didn't you tell me-"

"Sam I didn't know that you didn't know! She sent it nearly three weeks ago!"

Sam was shaking his head, looking distraught. "What does it say?"

"I don't know. I never saw it. It just contains all of her feelings that she was too scared to tell you. She wrote it months ago but it only got sent recently."

"So it should have reached me by now..."

"I know. I don't understand. Something must have gone wrong. She's been freaking out for the last weeks waiting for your response."

"She wants me to respond? But I don't know what it said! Surely you must have some idea."

"She says she was really upset when she wrote it and she sealed it up straight away without re-reading it." He decided not to mention the fact that she had told him that she had written that she loved him. It wasn't his news to convey.

"But was it good news or bad?"

"Look, she doesn't hate you Sam. She's just been confused about a lot of stuff. But she's working her way through it. In the letter she apologizes to you for not getting in touch. She's apologized to everyone and made up with everyone. She's become good friends with Quinn again - who, I might add, is also a changed person. She's back in the New Directions outsinging Rachel, and is acting more like herself than she has in a long time now. I'd say that other than her stress over the sending of the letter, she's finally getting settled into a better pace."

"I'm glad to hear that. I still miss her like crazy but I like to think that i'm mature enough to know that I have to let her go."

Kurt nodded quietly.

"Can you do me a favor Kurt?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Put her out of her misery. Tell her that I never got her letter so she doesn't need to stress about it. And tell her that I'm not mad at her. She'll know what I mean. She needs to focus. I know how much she wants to go to college in New York and I don't want to be any kind of a distraction to her while she goes for that. I'm still working on getting a sports scholarship. Maybe our paths will cross in the future. We can only hope."

"But you miss her don't you?"

"Like mad. But that's not going to solve anything. The timing was all wrong." He sighed. He knew what he was trying to say but it wasn't quite coming out the way he had hoped. "Oh and can I ask another favor?"

"Anything!"

"I'll send you a card in a plain envelope. I need you to put it in Mercedes' locker for me. I won't sign it. I just want her to feel thought of. Every girl needs a Cinderella moment."

Kurt didn't quite understand but nodded in agreement.

And then they settled to talk about more general things...

* * *

It felt good talking to Kurt. It was his last connection with Lima and he didn't want to break it completely.

'Sometimes the right decision is not the easiest. But ultimately things will and do work out in the end.'

Sam closed his laptop and thought long and hard about the words his mom had spoken to him. It seemed like an age ago now, that afternoon when they'd sat together in the motel room and she held him while he cried out his frustration with their situation. But those words had stuck. They had been said in a completely different context but the truth of them still remained.

The way things were at the moment, he had come to understand that now was not the right time for him and Mercedes. There was no way that they could deny that. But he truly believed that their day would come. They would just have to wait a while. Just as long as she didn't fall off his radar completely. Whatever happened in the future, he knew that he would never feel the same way about anyone as he had about her. The realization of it had shaken him to the core.

But for now his focus was on improving himself and setting up the life of a man who was worthy to share it with Mercedes Jones.

And he prayed every night that while it happened she would never forget him...

* * *

**_Song reference from the title is Our Day Will Come – Amy Winehouse version._**

**_Just answer the question - yes Mrs Jones DID actually post the letter. But the address wasn't written very well so it's currently MIA within the American postal service. But don't worry, if they're anything like the Royal Mail it will show up all battered eventually..._**


	16. Future Plans

Sam grinned at his friend as the redhead entered his room. Ollie shot him a serious look with narrowed eyes, nodded towards him, tipped an invisible hat on his head and said, "Howdy!" He then chuckled amusedly to himself at his failed attempt at a Southern accent before sighing dramatically, spinning 360 degrees, falling and landing gracefully on his bed while straightening a pillow which may or may not have been fractionally out of place. The guy was so much like Kurt it was almost scary!

Sam used his legs to swivel his chair to face Ollie who had now propped himself up on one elbow and was grinning hugely.

"Okay. I see you have news. What gives?"

Ollie was enjoying taking his time in replying. "I have a proposition to make to you."

"If it's you asking me to be your prom 'date' again, you already know what my answer is!"

Ollie grinned. "Nope. Not that. Although the offer remains open considering we're both dateless for the most stressful night of the school year." He pulled himself up into a more upright position. "No. This is something waaaay bigger. Sam Evans, what are your plans for summer?"

He shrugged. "Getting a job and earning as much money for college as possible." His eyes narrowed. "Why you asking? I thought you're spending summer with your dad."

"I am! But dad says I can bring a friend. And, the way things stand at the moment, there's only one person that I would contemplate asking..."

Sam exhaled loudly. It was the opportunity of a lifetime. Sam Evans. In _London_. One of the many cities on his list of places to visit before he died. But... "Hey, you know I can't afford it! Flights to England are expensive!"

"Not to worry my friend, daddy dearest is paying. Penance for his son having a broken childhood and all that crap! The only catch is you have to decide by tonight because he's using the work account to buy the tickets."

Well that just made the offer a whole lot more tempting...

"Sam! I can see you're actually thinking about it!"

Sam shook his head. His family were back on their feet but that was all. They still had to count every cent. And he wanted to take some responsibility for college. His grandparents were using some of their savings to help him with that. Keeping his head down together with sheer work and determination had got him in to his second choice of college to do art and design. Luckily it was also Ollie's first choice and he was going to be doing math, the brainbox computer programmer that he was! A place to stay was all sorted out because he was going to share with Ollie whose guilt dad was completely taking care of his accommodation. From initially thinking he would just have postpone going to college until later in life, things were already turning out to be more than he could ever ask for.

Now that he was already in such a good position he didn't want to take advantage. His friend was already doing so much for him by letting him live with him rent free for college.

He shook his head. "I want to but I shouldn't..." His words were slow and deliberate.

"Come on man! Think of it. Me and you. We'll be old enough to drink and go clubbing! Plus yours truly here will be your most excellent tour guide to all those tacky tourist traps you Americans like visiting so much. And the first thing I'll do when we get there is treat you to some proper fish and chips!"

Sam laughed. "Proper chips?"

"Proper chips!"

It was Sam's turn to sigh. "Look, it's tempting and all and I could probably talk myself into it but..."

Ollie nodded. "But you have this crazy work ethic. I know. I figured you'd say no but I still wanted to ask so you know I cared."

"I know. It means a lot."

The reply was a nod. "I was going to come out to my dad while I'm there. It would have been good to have the moral support."

"I'll be supporting you from here! Besides, if I come with you he might come to the wrong conclusion about us and it could make it harder for you."

"That's true. I hadn't thought of it that way."

Sam looked at his friend and spoke seriously. "Ollie, you _do _know it'll be fine don't you?"

"Do I?" Sam hated seeing his friend this sad. There was still so much he was coming to terms with and those around him weren't making it easy.

"It always works out in the end!"

"I hope so," said Ollie quietly, "But we are still 'doing Europe' after college aren't we?" He held up the index and middle fingers of both hands and bent them to indicate quote marks on the word Europe.

Sam mockingly imitated the gesture as he said "Of course we're 'doing Europe'!"

"Europe is a place where they drive on the wrong side of the road, produce dreadful techno pop music and eat mayonnaise with chips. Luckily some of us are separated from them by a big band of water and a stronger currency!"

"Suck it up Ollie. Your precious England is in Europe and you just have to deal with it!"

Ollie huffed. "Only geographically. But not in spirit. You Americans will never understand."

"So educate me!"

The grin was back. "I would have done, but you said you're not coming this time. I hope some of the money you earn this summer will go towards the 'Europe' road trip of a lifetime fund!"

"Naturally!"

"Great stuff! I love making future plans! Now I only have 30 minutes before mum gets home so I want to see your new artwork! Plus Stacy and your gran have promised me cookies to take home."

Sam laughed to himself. Stacy had the biggest crush on Ollie. In her little mind he'd stepped straight out of Harry Potter into her life and he didn't have the heart to tell her that there were multiple reasons why this one would never work out...

* * *

"Can I come in Sam?" His grandmother poked her head around his bedroom door.

"Hey meemaw!" Sam stood and offered her his desk chair, knowing it was better for her back than his soft bed and she accepted it gratefully. He sat on a small plastic box next to her so that he was closer to her level.

"Your skinny friend sure likes his cookies. I don't know where he puts them!" Ollie made no attempt to disguise the fact that he loved his grandma's baking.

Sarah Scott Evans was a handsome woman. Through the years her blond hair had faded to white but her smile had remained strong and her eyes were still a bright piercing blue. Despite her arthritis her posture still showed that she'd been a dancer in her time. A skill that Sam felt he didn't quite inherit enough of the genes for. She was petite like his mother although age and osteoporosis had made her shrink even more. She sat with a small wince and strained her eyes at the screen of his laptop.

"It's artwork," said Sam, "for the game I'm working on with Ollie."

"Art?" She smiled and shook her head slowly, "That would never have been called art in my day."

"I'm sure y'all were much more classical."

"Definitely. Your friend's a nice boy. But he's a bit… you know…"

"Yes grandma. He is gay."

"That's what I thought. It's always the talented ones! But I do like him… He's always so polite and respectful. He reminds me of- oh never mind." She noticed Sam shifting uncomfortably. "Don't worry. I mean it when I say I like him. Your father on the other hand…"

The dark look that crossed Sam's face was unmistakable and she took his hand. "I don't know what to say Sammy. I swear we brought him up to be better than that."

"And he brought me up to be better than that! What went wrong?"

Her eyes clouded over. "I don't know dear. But that's not what I came here to talk to you about."

Sam watched as she fished for something in her pocket. "Sam I want you to have this." She handed him a small wooden box.

As he opened it and saw what was inside he opened his mouth to speak. "I can't-"

"Hush now! You're my oldest grandchild and the one with the most sense and maturity in this family."

Inside the box was the most beautiful ring he'd ever seen. "The stones?"

"Purple amethyst. It was my engagement ring." There was a faraway look in her eyes.

Sam took the ring out of the cushion in the box and placed it in the palm of his hand. It was beyond beautiful. It was white gold set with three purple hearts. The largest heart was upright in the middle, with a smaller heart on either side of it. The smaller hearts were on their sides, tails pointing outwards as if hugging the larger heart. The ring was set with small diamonds, located above one of the smaller hearts and below the other. And the stones were a wonderful shade of purple which changed with the light…

He was speechless.

Sarah had a faraway look in her eyes from seeing the ring again after so much time.

"I can't believe papaw gave you this! He had great taste!"

"Your grandpa didn't give it me!"

Sam's head snapped from the ring to his grandma. "Say what?"

"That there ring was given to me by Tommy Lee. We'd been courting precisely five weeks when he gave it me and I was so happy I cried."

Sam's grandpa was called Samuel. Who the hell was Tommy Lee?

"I bet now you want to know who Tommy Lee was?"

Sam nodded, unable to trust himself with words.

"He was my first love. I met him at a local dance. He was so handsome he took my breath away. Green eyes just like yours. I was just some shy skinny little girl but he told me I was beautiful and made me feel like a million dollars. At the end of the dance he asked if he could see me the next day. Then the next day he asked for the next, and so it went on for five weeks until he produced this ring and asked me if he could see me all of the days for the rest of his life."

Sam just stared at her, stunned. Never in a million years would he have imagined his grandma with anyone else.

"My grandparents were strict and didn't approve of him because he was from the wrong side of town and didn't have much money, but I knew he was the one I wanted. The thing is, I was never brave enough to face my parents and tell them about it. I hid the ring on a chain under my clothes. Tommy asked me to run away with him but I was too scared."

"So what happened?"

"Our engagement lasted three days. He was offered a job out of town and he took it, thinking if he earned lots of money, my parents would accept him and we could be together. While he was travelling across State he came across a drunken man hitting his wife. Being the kind soul that he was he stepped in to help her but the guy hit him with something so hard on the stomach that he bled inside and died. I was devastated. If only I'd run away with him. If only I had fought for him. If only I had talked him out of going away. There were just so many 'what ifs'. "

Sam could feel his own eyes filling as her watched his grandma's face, lost in a memory of long ago.

"It broke me but I couldn't talk to anyone properly about it because the only person who knew we were engaged was his best friend. He and I helped each other through and stayed good friends. A few years later that friendship turned into something more... and the rest, they say, is history."

"I had no idea…"

"Nobody does. It's not a story we go around sharing with all and sundry. It took me a long time to heal from losing my first love. Don't get me wrong. I love your grandpa somethin' fierce! But he and I both know he's not Tommy Lee and he'll never be forgotten by either of us for different reasons. Your young friend has so many of his mannerisms. Maybe that's why I like him so much."

"I can't take this from you!" Sam shut the box and was adamant as he held the box back out towards her.

She held out her hands for him to see. The knuckles of her fingers were swollen with arthritis. "I couldn't put the ring on even if I wanted to. Besides, it's been shut away in that box since the day I married your grandpa."

As he clutched the box in his hand, she covered his with her own. "Sam, I want you to promise me something."

"Anything."

"This ring was Tommy's momma's. It was the most valuable thing he had and he gave it to me. This ring is special and when you give it, make sure you give it to somebody real special. You promise you'll do that for me?"

He nodded solemnly.

"When I look at this ring, I remember what could have been, but never was. I don't want you to ever live with that regret. It _is_ possible to love again and be happy. But you never forget. That doesn't make you disloyal, it just makes you human. Does that make sense?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Your momma says you had to leave a girl behind when you came here."

Sam nodded. Sarah wasn't stupid. She had seen the well-thumbed photograph of the beautiful colored girl that he kept under his pillow.

"Well I'm sure she was wonderful."

"She was!"

She leaned over and touched his chest, right over his heart. "Then always keep her right here. I would have loved to have met the girl my grandson was courting."

"You would have liked her. She's an amazing person and a great cook!"

"Sounds like I sure would! Just remember. Only give the ring to someone that you feel about as strongly as you do for her!"

She leaned forward and kissed his head before wiping her eyes and standing. "I smell the cake is ready. Stacy and Stevie won't be happy if I burn it!"

Sam smiled and threw his arms around her. "You never burn anythin'! I love you Meemaw!"

She chuckled. "Get off you silly young fool! You're worse than your grandpa!" Pushing him gently off her she made her way to the door without turning her head.

Sam looked down thoughtfully at the ring which was now back in his hand in his hand.

_This ring is special and when you give it, make sure you give it to somebody real special._


	17. Blame It On The Alcohol

"Evans! You do realize you're the _only_ guy on the team going to prom without a date!" They were filing out of practice for the evening.

"Dude! That's so wrong! You could still have almost any girl in the school even at this late hour!" Matt pointed towards the cheerleaders who were still in training.

"Well if you show up with your _special_ friend, then I'll know what Krystal said about you is true. I've had my suspicions for a while…" Ashton had never quite warmed to him.

Sam was nonchalant. "I don't care what Krystal says. She's not even on my radar. She knows she makes me sick!"

"Man, seriously? No date for prom?" Greg, the linebacker was also struggling to believe it.

Sam shrugged as he threw his bag over his shoulder. "So what? I don't have a date! I'm just going to dance! Then all your dates are going to ignore you and come dance with me... so, your dates are really my dates! I get the best of both worlds!"

He laughed to himself for having quoted the legend that was Miss Brittany S Pierce and strode outside into the sunlight.

* * *

"Sam! SAM! Ollie's here!"

"Coming mom!"

Sam took one last look in the mirror, checking his teeth for anything caught between them and straightening his tie (normal, not bolo) for the millionth time. He slipped a strip of gum in his pocket, made sure he had his wallet and headed out towards his waiting family.

"Doesn't he look handsome!" Sarah Evans smiled at her grandson. He did indeed look good enough to eat. But it wasn't going to go to his head. This was not the prom night he would have chosen for himself.

His mom made him stand at the bottom of the stairs while she took photographs with her digital camera. "We should get Ollie in a picture too!" She pushed the smaller boy towards Sam and after some deliberation they stood back to back, arms folded and jaws jutting trying their hardest to look 'cool' but failing ever so slightly.

His dad was muttering under his breath. Sam could only make out '...a travesty! Prom night should be about corsages and…' The man was met by a glare by grandma Evans to dare finish that sentence and he wisely kept the rest of his thoughts to himself.

Sam felt his fists clench but said nothing. He saw no reason not to go with his friend if neither of them had a date. They were heading in from the same direction anyway, and it would be nice not to have to walk in through the doors alone.

The plan was a simple one. Sam had said that he was going to stay at Ollie's because he didn't want to wake the family up by arriving late and as they were only a few doors away from each other they would have travelled together anyway. The minor detail that Sam's family didn't know was that Ollie's mom was away for the weekend. There was a strict ban on parties which was understandable. Luckily, the after prom party was being held at some other poor loser's house because he had a pool.

Sam was in two minds as to whether or not to go to the after party and Ollie was concerned that he wouldn't be 'cool' enough to get in. They'd finally come to the conclusion that they would play it by ear and make their decision only as prom wound down. Luckily for them the party was only a couple of blocks away and they could stagger home if they wanted.

* * *

True to form, Sam had totally worked the dance floor. He had danced with most of his teammate's dates as well as some of the wallflowers, totally making their nights. He was more than happy to spread the 'Cinderella effect' love. But it was disappointing not to be able to bust out his trusty favorite moves like the robot. After all, he _did_ have some kind of a reputation to uphold, but he still managed to have a good time anyway.

Without the likes of Sue Sylvester's beady eyes, the punch had been spiked, heavily, early and clearly by more than one person. By the time it was finally removed from the table the damage had already been done. Prom was suddenly far more fun than anybody had imagined it would be, and designated drivers were suddenly finding that they were having to do two runs to shuttle happy students to homes and post prom party locations.

Even Ollie managed to have a good time. Sam had feared for him, remembering Kurt's experience last prom, but the reality was that most of the girls found him 'safer' to dance with, and they were able to take far more liberties with their dancing when they were with him. And good old Ollie has simply lapped it all up like the attention whore he secretly was.

The music wasn't quite the same quality as the New Directions performances but it was still a pretty decent prom. The boys managed to have so much fun that they decided that they did want to let it continue, and would at least give the after party a go.

Not wanting to show up empty handed, they took a designated driver ride back to Ollie's house to grab an alcohol donation.

"Wait here," Ollie said as he had giggled and let himself into the dark house. Moments later he returned waving a tall thin bottle.

"So what did you grab?"

Ollie shrugged sluggishly. "I don't know. It was just the first thing I could reach. It's been there for months so I doubt mum'll miss it!"

They started to walk towards the party house.

"What the hell is this stuff?" asked Sam, straining his eyes to look at the pale liquid in the bottle that his friend had brought out.

Ollie clutched it from him and took a closer look at it for the first time. "I think its melon liqueur. I just grabbed the first bottle I could find."

"Who the hell drinks melon liqueur?"

The reply was a shrug. "I dunno. We'll just tell them its shots. I think my mum got it in Italy. The label's not even in English!"

"Seriously, if I'm going to get busted for walking in the street clutching a bottle of alcohol, it needs to at least be something a little more credible than melon liqueur!"

"Don't diss the liqueur man… It's… It's bloody sophisticated and classy. A gentleman's drink!"

Sam grinned. "You're so gay!"

Ollie nodded and bumped his friend with his shoulder. "And you're so totally hung up on your ex!"

"I'm not!"

"Yes you are- oh I think this is the house!" His train of thought was lost as he looked up at the detached house. Every light in every room appeared to be blazing brightly and they could hear the music from the driveway.

Within seconds they were propped up by the front door. Before they could raise their hands to knock the door was opened by one of the sports jocks. He nodded at Sam to come in before looking skeptically at Ollie. "What are you doing here?"

Ollie looked confused for a moment, then suddenly brightened up, stood straighter and held the bottle high. "I carried a watermelon!" he yelled triumphantly.

The sound of a few yells and whoops came from inside and a space magically appeared in front of them so that they could enter.

There were people everywhere and where it looked like there couldn't be space for another person, miraculously there were hordes more. The music in the living room was so loud that all that anyone could hear was the throbbing beat. People were so packed in that they weren't dancing so much as propping each other up to the vibration of the beat.

They headed for the kitchen. Assorted alcoholic drinks and snacks littered all surfaces including the floor. The poor kid whose house this was going to have one hell of a task getting the place cleaned up afterwards! Once they finally found the giant red cups and helped themselves to drinks, they went to find a room which actually had room to breathe and which hadn't already been taken by couples making out.

"Danza conmigo!" Sam felt his arm dragged by a girl with a scary resemblance to Santana. Suddenly he was inside a room with loud Latin music.

Ollie followed him in with an amused expression. He already knew how to salsa from his time in London and had a girl in his arms in the time that it took Sam to catch his breath.

They had no idea how long they stayed in that room, but by the time they left it, they were both pretty dizzy from spinning and Sam had actually picked up some pretty sharp moves.

"Hey Evans! There you are!" Sam turned to see Scott beckoning him over. "We've lost a chunk of people to the closet for 'seven minutes of heaven' so we need more bodies for our game of spin the bottle."

"Nah, I think I'm OK-"

"Noooo that sounds like fun!" Ollie had finished the sentence for him, "Count me in too!"

Scott looked at Ollie doubtfully but shrugged it off. They needed to make up the numbers and were all already so wasted that anyone would do.

They took places in the circle on the floor. Sam sat directly opposite Krystal who shot him a look of pure hate. "I'm _not_ kissing him!"

"Don't worry sugar," he replied "there ain't enough money in the world to bribe me to go anywhere near your lips again!"

She huffed and whispered something in her friend's ear next to her.

When it came to Ollie's turn, the bottle landed on a small shy looking Asian girl who looked extremely excited at the getting the opportunity to kiss him. Sam smiled sadly, seeing Ollie kiss her briefly and softly before saying, "I'm very sorry, but even with a liver full of alcohol, I'm still gay, my dear!"

Then it was Sam's turn and it suddenly occurred to him that this probably wasn't the wisest place for him to be. But it was too late to back out. He spun the bottle, silently praying that it wouldn't land on Krystal.

It was a close call, but although it looked like it was going to land on her, it ended up slightly closer to her friend next to her. "Now we get to settle this once and for all!" the nameless blond haired blue eyed girl said. "I can tell instantly from a kiss if a guy is gay or not!"

Sam just smiled and shook his head. Much as the rumor was fine for getting girls off his back, it had become annoying, and he really didn't want it to follow him to college. Nameless girl had already crawled into the middle of the circle waiting for him.

He could do this! Right? It was just a kiss. And he knew he was a good kisser.

He leaned forward and kissed her softly on the lips.

But then...

Somehow his hands ended up on her waist and the kiss was no longer quite so soft.

Sam could hear the rest of the room rapidly falling quiet but he didn't care. For a blond skinny thing this girl had pretty soft generous lips that tasted of strawberry lip gloss. He paused briefly for breath before ignoring Ollie's voice and the one in the back of his head before kissing her again.

Damn he'd missed kissing!

He was pulling her closer and she was melting in his arms. He hands reached up and went into his hair just like Mercedes used to-

WOAH! What the HELL was he doing?

Sam suddenly pulled back. She remained as she was, eyes closed, a partial smile frozen onto her lips, the gloss them now very much smudged.

He shivered in horror at what he had just done.

The nameless girl smiled and opened her eyes. Without breaking eye contact with him she smiled. "Yep. I was right. Definitely _not_ gay!"

She moved back to her spot next to Krystal with a triumphant expression on her face, and a look of longing in her eyes when she cast them back at Sam.

Sam couldn't meet Ollie's eyes as he sat back in his place. All he could hear was his voice saying 'still hung up on your ex!' And yet he'd just made out with another girl. The kiss was even bigger than the one he had with Brittany when he was drunk at Rachel's party.

He sobered up instantly. This alcohol thing was no good for him. He had yelled at his dad for his actions while under the influence and now he was doing the self-same shameful thing!

He hated himself in that moment, more than he'd ever hated himself in his entire life.

"Okay guys, I don't feel so good!" One of the other girls had broken the silence which had settled on the circle.

As Sam turned to look at her, his sudden sober state allowed him to fully register the situation. He recognized the expression on her face. It was the one Stacey always had seconds before she…

He sprung up and staggered backwards, pulling Ollie with him just in time to avoid being thrown up on. The rest of the circle quickly followed suit, moaning in disgust.

Sam grabbed tighter Ollie. "This is our cue to get out of here!"

His friend agreed. The two of them fled down the stairs and fought their way through the crowd and out of the house into the fresh cool air.

Sam was still stunned. "What the hell happened in there?"

Ollie shrugged. "I don't know. I'm drunk as a skunk and somehow I appear to have lost my tie!" He descended into giggles but Sam was now too sober to be finding it funny.

"Seriously. I just kissed that girl! But I love Mercedes! Oh my god I've totally messed up!"

Ollie appeared not to have heard him. He'd stopped walking and was craning his neck. "Can you hear what I hear?"

"No! I hear nothing! And you're not listening to me! I said-" Then he heard it. The sound of sirens in the distance. "They're gonna get raided! RUN!"

The two boys sprinted as fast as they could as they heard the sound of sirens approaching, not wanting to even be in the vicinity when things kicked off. At his front door Ollie fumbled with his keys and Sam had to be the one to actually open the door but they were glad to be safely inside.

"I need to lie down!" groaned Sam.

By this time Ollie was now sober. It must have been the sound of sirens that did it. "Nope. Kitchen first!" Once there he filled two large glasses with water and handed one to Sam together with two Advil. "Take these and drink the whole glass of water. No protests. You'll be glad for this in the morning."

Sam was too exhausted to argue and did what he was told.

"Now go use the loo, then upstairs to bed."

"Loo? Loo? You're so British! It's bathroom! Anyway, what time is it?"

"3:17. Just go Sam! I'll meet you upstairs."

By the time Ollie had come up, Sam had removed his shoes and was sitting in the middle of the bedroom floor. He was shaking his head in disbelief at his own behavior. "I can't believe I kissed her!"

Ollie collapsed onto his bed with a groan, feeling the mattress give underneath him and extreme tiredness passing through his entire body.

"Ollie, my old chap. Would you mind passing me a couple of pillows!"

He laughed at Sam's pretty decent imitation of his accent and chucked them over. "Who are you supposed to be this time?"

"Bond! James Bond!"

He groaned. "Oh please. You really need to get some sleep. In ten seconds I'll move and get you some bedding."

But ten seconds later, when he went to get up, he saw Sam, head on the pillows, fully dressed, totally passed out on the floor.

With a shrug he switched off the light, collapsed back on his bed and was asleep before he could even climb under the covers.

* * *

Sam was woken by the intense pressure on his bladder. He lay very still for a moment, listening to the sound of Ollie snoring gently.

As he lay there he knew there was something about the night's events that he needed to remember. But he couldn't quite remember what. All he knew was that if he didn't get to the bathroom right now his insides would burst!

But getting up was easier said than done. His head felt like Finn had been using his brain as a drum kit during the night. And his mouth was dry and furry like someone had filled it with chalk powder.

And light – light hurt his eyes so very very much!

He inched his way to the bathroom, each step more painful than the last, and he was glad to return to his pillow on the floor and the restless sleep that he'd been having.

* * *

"So on a scale of one to ten, how much like a pile of shit are you feeling at the moment?"

"About eight, maybe point five…" Sam didn't dare open his eyes just yet.

"That's about the same as me. One hell of a night tho!"

"Damn right!" Sam ventured to open one eye. Ollie was sat on the edge of his bed. The boy was still in his shirt and pants looking as crap as hell and he knew he wouldn't be looking any better.

"Come on Sam, we have to get up!"

"What time is it?"

"1:20"

"What! No waaay! I said to mom, if I woke up early enough I'd go to church with them!"

"Well I think they're probably on their way home by now."

Sam stood up gingerly and crossed the room to retrieve his phone from his suit jacket. There were four missed calls and two texts.

"First things first!" said Ollie, "We need to lose these hangovers. Simple process. First stop, more water and more pain killers, second stop, hot showers. Sam the bathroom is all yours, I'll use mom's en suite. Your overnight bag's still on my desk untouched from when you put it there yesterday afternoon. Final stop, breakfast. We need a bit of grease to soak up the last of that alcohol."

Sam didn't have the energy to argue.

By the time he'd showered, changed and polished off the last of his sausages, toast and scrambled eggs he was feeling much better. It was just the dull headache that remained.

Sam turned up his nose at Ollie's tea and washed down the meal with strong black coffee. "I feel like a have a huge gap in my brain where last night should have been. Do you remember much?"

"I remember it all! Do you mean to say you've forgotten?"

"There's something really important on the tip of my brain but it won't quite come out!"

Ollie grinned and sang, "_You kissed a girl and you liked it!_"

"I kissed a girl?" It all came flooding back. "Oh SHIT! I kissed a girl!"

"Yep. You played tongue tag with some blond girl whose name you don't even know! But don't worry, so did I – but without tongues obviously!"

"But Ollie I have-"

"No Sam! You _don't_ have. And you haven't had for the best part of a year now. You're free and single. If you want to kiss a girl you have no reason to feel guilty about it!"

"But Mercedes-"

"But Mercedes got her own boyfriend and moved on. Why can't you?"

"Because I don't want to! Because I'm not ready to!"

"Sam I don't get it!"

"Maybe because it doesn't really make sense. You were right last night. Maybe I am still hung up on my ex. But that's because she got into my soul. Yeah that kiss was great, but when she put her hand in my hair all I could think of was Mercedes. All I could taste in the lip gloss was Mercedes. I know she's hundreds of miles away and she's moved on, but _I'm not quite there yet_!"

Ollie looked at his friend with concern.

"Look. I've done the rebound thing once before. I don't want to be that guy again."

Ollie sounded frustrated. "You're not! Stop beating yourself up about it."

But Sam couldn't stop beating himself up about it.

Surely he couldn't just blame it on the alcohol!

* * *

Sam sat at his desk. His head still hurt and his mouth was dry. He knew that his family had noticed he had a hangover but he was thankful that they said nothing about it, instead asking for details of the prom and he filled them in as much as he could.

But his mind wasn't on the conversation.

It was still on the kiss.

And how much he hated himself for it.

Frustrated, he decided to distract himself by doing something useful.

Shifting his gaze, he looked up at the pile of white envelopes propped up on the edge of his desk. College paperwork that needed completing. Sam didn't know what he hated more because of his dyslexia, writing essays or completing forms. He stacked them up in a small pile in front of him before opening the top one. As he expected, there were several forms inside that needed completing. Lots of tiny writing. Questions that didn't make sense on first reading and boxes that were too small for the answers he needed to give.

Damn writing! Yet another thing that he hated about himself. He swept his hand across the desk in frustration and the pile of letters fell to the floor.

That's when he saw it.

The plain white envelope was the same standard office size as the others which was why it had blended in so well with them. But this one looked battered rather than pristine. And the name and address on the front was hand written rather than typed.

There was writing, stamps and redirection stickers all over the front. The zip code had been crossed out and replaced by another, the number of the street was one that didn't exist. Somebody had suggested trying another State. There was even a note to return to sender but the sender was unknown.

None of these stopped Sam in his tracks.

The thing that stopped Sam in his tracks was that despite all the crossings out, amendments and stickers from other people, he still recognized the original handwriting on the front.

Those distinctive large letters and loops.

Headache and hangover were forgotten.

Before he knew what he was doing he had snatched up the envelope and ripped it open.

He was met by his own face smiling back at him and his stomach knotted.

He flicked through the pictures.

Prom night.

2011.

The night that had changed his life.

And there she was, standing next to him, looking even more beautiful than in the picture he already had.

Even from a photo she still took his breath away.

And how did they manage to take a picture of him sneaking a look at her? He didn't even know that he'd done it!

Sam thought that he couldn't feel any worse about the messed up kiss at the party.

He was wrong.

So _this_ was the letter Kurt had been referring to. Nearly eight sides of handwritten text in not her best handwriting.

In an instant Sam felt his headache returning as the text merged into itself.

He sat back on his bed, ran through a couple of the calming techniques that his tutor had taught him, picked up the first page and slowly started to read...


	18. The Letter Arrives

**_Glad to know this is still being read as I know most read it last time round. This version contains significantly less typos! Hope to have the complete story up by the end of this evening!_**

* * *

Sam_ clutched the pieces of paper in his hand so tightly that they began to crease._

_He'd read the whole letter several times and his fading hangover was now the last thing on his mind._

_He was a mass of conflicting emotions._

_Mercedes still loved him! She was sorry and she loved him. Sure she'd said some other stuff too but it was basically that she loved him._

_And she missed him just as much as he missed her._

_And then he'd gone and sucked faces with some Quinn wannabe._

_He felt soooo bad over that…_

_But then again, she'd actually gone out with Shane so surely that had evened things out? She would have kissed him way more than once. She may even have… no… he refused to even entertain the thought of that creep's hands all over his girl._

_Because she was still his girl. Right?_

_She said she loved him. That she would always love him._

_The decision was easy._

_He had to see her._

_He had to speak to her._

_He had to let her know that being apart just wasn't working out…_

_But now it was getting late. The weekend was over. School was in the morning. There was nothing he could do right now. If he called ahead it would ruin the surprise. But as soon as the weekend came back round he would go see her. And kiss those beautiful lips. And the world would be alright again. They could figure out the rest along the way._

_Yes. That's what he would do._

_The letter was written months ago and she didn't even know he finally had it. This could wait one more week. Five days for him to plan._

_Five days to make things perfect._

_Because she said she loved him._

_And that's all he needed to know._

_The plan was a simple one. Sam's parents thought that he was spending the weekend with his cousin Sully in Nashville. He could leave straight after school on Friday as there wasn't going to be any practice. He often travelled up there when things got too stressful. Ada Evans was nothing like her brother and Sam was always welcome in her house. She'd been widowed at a young age and had no desire to remarry. Her only son Sully was the only family member aside from his grandparents that he was truly happy to stay in touch with. They'd been close while he had been at school in Tennessee and they were the only members of his father's side of the family that he felt no feelings of shame about._

_Once he reached Sully's he would sleep the night and head off early next morning for Lima with hopes to reach there by mid-afternoon with lots of loud music and a food and fuel stop part way to keep him going. Sully would cover for him. He was great like that._

_And he knew that he could rely on Kurt to come up with an excuse to get Mercedes out of the house. The guy was amazing. If he ever broke up with Blaine he would totally introduce him to Ollie._

_The rest of it was all up to Sam._

_He'd played it over and over in his head. What it would be like to see and touch her again._

_If her feelings were even a quarter of what he felt, there was no way they wouldn't be able to work this out._

_He remembered their first date when they'd sung Adele's Make You Feel My Love. The way that they'd held each other, like they never wanted to let go. That feeling hadn't changed, at least not for him. And he was sure it never would._

_He'd been wrong not to let them give this a chance despite the move and now he was finally going to get the chance to fix it!_

_Sam was tired by the time he reached Lima but as soon as he drove towards the center of town, adrenaline started to course through his veins. She was near and he could feel it! Every nerve in his body started to tingle with anticipation. His heart started to race, his hands became clammy and his mouth was dry._

_This was it!_

_He was in the park. He had made good time and was 30 minutes early. As expected, the play area was empty. He sat on one of the swings and took deep breaths, lost in the memory of hours spent here with Mercedes. Mostly with the kids but occasionally blissfully alone. Time just for them. Holding hands and talking about everything and about nothing._

_As if they had all the time in the world…_

_But they hadn't. And neither had he now._

_He was pulled out of his reverie by the sound of a car in the parking lot. It pulled in a couple of spaces away from his. He'd been able to park his car freely, knowing that she would not recognize the vehicle although he suddenly hoped that the Tennessee plates wouldn't arouse suspicion._

_She was early. This didn't surprise him. Kurt was often early too and she was expecting to be meeting him here. He stepped back and out of sight as she left her car, checked her phone and slowly made her way towards the swings. She carefully looked around before sitting on one. The phone was still in her hand and she tapped the screen a few times before holding it up to her ear. After a few moments her melodic voice drifted over to him. "Hey Kurt. I'm here. I was expecting you to be early. You've been going on and on about this enough all week. I'm guessing you're probably driving so I'll see you in a bit… Oh and by the way I'm on the swings!"_

_He watched as she hummed softly to herself, swinging slowly, her pretty purple summer dress flapping in the breeze that her movement had created._

_He took a step closer. This was his moment. Kurt wasn't going to be returning that call anytime soon._

_She was all his. Or at least she would be in a few moments._

_If this all went well._

_"Hey Mercy!" He approached her from the side. He hadn't raised his voice in any way yet she'd immediately used her feet to halt the swing and sat frozen, immobile. It was as if she had heard a noise and was staying silent until she could confirm whether or not she'd heard right._

_He had to actually walk into her line of vision before she acknowledged his presence. That acknowledgement was a widening of her eyes and a discernible gulp._

_He shot her what he knew to be his most winning smile and used all of his power not to run up and throw his arms around her. He had no right to that. Not just yet._

_As she stared at him, speechless, he straddled the swing next to her, practically hugging the chain on it as he faced her._

_"W-what are you doing here?" Finally she managed to engage her mouth._

_Damn she looked good. He missed that mouth. He missed that face. He missed her…_

_"I'm good thanks. How are you darlin'?"_

_Her mouth opened and closed but no sound came out and his smile broadened even more._

_"Yeah I drove up from Tennessee this morning. Got here about thirty minutes ago."_

_Again she tried to speak but nothing came out of her mouth._

_"Don't worry about Kurt. He's not coming. He's kinda my partner in crime over this!"_

_This time she was shaking her head. Despite her shock he could see that she was now fighting back a giggle at the way he was answering her questions before she could ask them. The expression on her face was totally sexy!_

_Finally she managed to compose herself. "Sam…"_

_Dammit! Just the way his name sounded when she said it had the ability to drive him wild._

_She looked uncomfortable trying to twist in her swing trying to see him properly. But he was where he was in order to keep a safe distance from her. He wasn't sure he could trust himself to stay back now that he was so close to her but he was going to have to try._

_He stood and moved over in front of her, offering his hand to help her up from the swing. She took it and stood. The both felt the sparks on their skin and each was reluctant to let go of the other. But Sam was the first to do it, not wanting to be the one to freak her out in any way._

_They stood for a moment. Totally still. Just drinking each other in._

_"Mercy. We need to talk."_

_She simply nodded. Words failing her again. Her eyes were staring up at him with such intensity and he didn't doubt that his were doing the same._

_She was the first to break the eye contact. She was looking down, suddenly needing to avoid his eye.s He desperately wanted to put his finger on her chin and tilt her face up to his but this still wasn't quite the time._

_Then she was speaking. "No Sam. I have to talk and you have to listen. Can we… can we just walk for a bit?"_

_He nodded. Walking was good. Walking broke the tension a little. Things were getting a little heavy with them standing there staring at each other like that. Without realizing they were walking the old loop around the park that they used to regularly take the previous summer._

_There was so much that Sam wanted to say, but he saw that Mercedes was struggling to come up with words herself so he stayed silent. He would wait for her. He'd had time to get his thoughts in some kind of order. She had been caught totally by surprise. He owed her at least a little time to gather her thoughts and ideas._

_She stared at her feet the whole time that she walked. He hoped that she wasn't crying. Her face was hidden from his view but she didn't seem to be wiping any tears away._

_"Sam I'm sorry!"_

_"I know…"_

_"No, I mean it. I shouldn't have ignored you the way I did. It's not that I didn't want to hear from you-"_

_"I know…"_

_"And Shane was-"_

_"Mercy I-"_

_"Dammit Sam! Just let me finish!" She'd abruptly stopped walking and her eyes briefly flashed with anger. Before his eyes the anger vanished as quickly as it had risen and was replaced by a river of tears. Again her head bowed down and this time he did lift her face up to look at him._

_"Don't cry Mercy. I told you I know."_

_Initially she frowned, then a flash of fear was reflected on her face. Surely not…_

_Her words were slow and deliberate. "Sam. Why are you here?"_

_"I got your letter."_

_The anger was back. "But Kurt said-"_

_"And what Kurt said was true. I didn't have the letter then. I first read it on Sunday! He only found out when I told him this week and he helped me to have the opportunity to speak with you about it face to face."_

_Her eyes widened with shocked disbelief. She tried to speak but again her voice failed her and with a resigned look she closed her mouth again._

_"Mercy, now it's your turn to listen! After months of getting nothing from you, that letter was exactly what I needed. But I do wish it had come sooner. That's one thing I can blame you for! What the hell kind of foolish address did you put on the front of it? The only part of it that was totally correct was my name! The thing was bounced around and redirected so many times by the postal service that I'm amazed it reached me in one piece. Hell, I'm amazed it reached me at all! I figured you wrote the address from memory when you were still upset and not thinking straight. But it did eventually reach. It just happened when I'd hit rock bottom. The first time I read it I felt even more terrible. I was already hating myself and it made things worse. The second time I read it I had no idea what to make of it and the third time I read it all I could see was that you said you loved me and I needed to come up and see for myself to see if it was still true."_

_"Sam I wrote that letter months ago. I was in a fit of emotion when I wrote it."_

_"It has the ring of truth."_

_"It had that too. But that was the truth of me last autumn. I'm not that same person now."_

_"So your feelings… have changed?" He couldn't mask the disappointment in his voice._

_"Sam I-"_

_"It's OK. I understand." He didn't. But he would try. He turned to go, his heart hurting more than he ever felt was humanly possible. "My coming here was a mistake. It's too late."_

_"Sam WAIT!" She grabbed his arm and he spun back towards her, hope returning in his eyes, that instant burn like acid the second her skin touched his._

_"You do feel it don't you Mercy?"_

_She bit hard on her bottom lip. "But Sam we'll be in college in a few months…"_

_He ran his hands up and down her bare arms and she shuddered. "Look at me and tell me that you feel nothing when I touch you." He stared intently at her lips for what felt like an age before bending his head towards hers until their foreheads were touching, their breath caressing each other's cheeks. He watched as her pupils enlarged. "Tell me that your pulse isn't racing at the speed of light right now because I know mine is. Tell me that that you don't want me to kiss you right now because I-"_

_Sam had no idea how that sentence was going to end because she was the one that reached up to kiss him. And it wasn't a soft gentle peck. It was nine months of pain and heartbreak and passion and loss and anger and adoration and frustration and bitterness and regret and apprehension and hurt and fear and goodness knows what else rolled into one breathtaking clash of mouths. And yes. More than a little bit of lust thrown in there too._

_They gazed at each other, breathless, lips swollen from their passion, tongues wanting to again convey more than words._

_"Forgive me?"_

_It didn't take Sam long to convince her she'd been forgiven long ago._

_They would work this out._

_There had to be a way._

* * *

Sam had woken still dressed, surrounded by sheets of paper and photographs, and in an embarrassing state of arousal. That dream had had a hot extended ending!

If only dreams really could come true. Sometimes bitter reality was just too much to take.

The truth was Sam didn't know what to feel.

After all the issues he had with his father over drinking, he had gone out and behaved in a way that he was not proud of. That alone was enough to mess with his head. His dad had been sober for months and he should probably go the same way. What if not being able to handle alcohol was genetic?

And then there was the letter. Much as he would love to skip school and drive up to Lima and see Mercedes, the chances of things turning out the way that they had in his dream were low. The letter was from months ago. For all he knew she may have moved on and found someone new. He didn't want to mess things up for her if she was truly happy now. And he couldn't keep asking Kurt to interfere for him.

Did Mercedes still love him after the passing of all these months? Could he realistically expect her to?

And now he had to go to school where some nameless girl would be roaming the halls bragging that he'd drunkenly made out with her after prom. And it was true. He _had_ made out with some girl without even getting her name. How skanky was that! What he'd done messing around with Santana had been bad enough but at least he knew her first!

The letter had waited months to reach him. It could afford to wait a little longer while he tried to work out what it meant for him and how he should respond.

Or even if he should. Mercedes would have been told it had never reached him. She was probably glad not to be tied down for the words she had written. She'd had a lucky escape.

How was he supposed to know what to do?

He didn't know what to do at all!

* * *

They were sat in the high school parking lot. Sam wouldn't say he was scared to leave the car, more apprehensive. He didn't want to have the same 'love em and leave em' reputation as the rest of the football team.

Ollie sighed for the umpteenth time. He was clearly getting fed up with this and desperately wanted to go inside. "Sam, you're conflicted. Just take a bit of time out to sort things through in your head. You're so busy stressing about what other people think and how they will react that you have stopped focusing on yourself. But you have to. Because you really do need to get yourself to a better place!"

Sam sighed. He knew he did. But what he didn't know was where to start.

"But this is crazy. I don't even remember what she looks like!"

"Slim, blond, perky…"

"Yeah I know that! But so are a good percentage of the girls at this school. I like my ladies a little more…" He held his hands up and traced out the curves of a woman "… Bootlylicious!"

"You're an ass man Sam. Just like me!"

Sam cringed at the thought. "No Ollie, not _quite _the same as you! Mine is all about the shape. I've dated skinny girls before but nothing beats holding a real woman in your arms. Getting lost in her curves and her softness…"

Ollie squirmed uncomfortably, "Yeah. Sorry but all that's wasted on me. Are you ready to go in? We don't want to be late!"

Sam nodded, taking a deep breath and preparing to enter school and deal with whatever the post prom fallout was going to be…

* * *

Precisely one week later he checked his phone after practice and was surprised by the message that was there.

Kurt: What are your plans for next weekend?

It was a very weird text. Was Kurt coming to Tennessee? If he was it could only be a good thing! Unfortunately he had plans of his own.

Sam: Going to visit cousin in Nashville. Are you visiting? I can postpone him.

Kurt's reply cane in record time.

Kurt: DON'T CANCEL! This is PERFECT! Nationals is in Nashville. Glee reunion. BE THERE!

Sam actually dropped his phone.

The New Directions were going to be in Nashville? How the hell had he missed this?

And if they were there then Mercedes would be there…

And he would actually get to see her…

Oh SHIT!

He had to call Ollie.

This changed everything.

He was going to see Mercedes.

Oh shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit shit…


	19. Nationals: Part 1

_**Lots of song lyrics means lots of formatting errors which refuse to be fixed! Sorry!**_

* * *

Mercedes stared at her reflection in the mirror for the millionth time. Quinn came up to her and hugged her from behind. "Your hair looks gorgeous. Now come on, let's go!" She tugged gently on her friend's arm until she finally started to move.

As they walked outside in the bright sunshine, the girls stared around themselves with huge smiles. Okay so this wasn't New York. But this _was_ Nationals, and yet again they were in another city that they had never seen.

This year Mr Schue was a little less protective of them going out. Providing they were at least in pairs, he allowed them to go out with a curfew. It was still 'bright lights big city' compared to Lima but nowhere near as intimidating as New York. The girls were desperate to get some Southern souvenirs and a coffee together.

The last time Mercy went souvenir shopping on a Nationals trip it was with Sam. Just after their first kiss…

Quinn noticed the distracted expression on her friend's face. "You're thinking about Sam aren't you!"

Mercedes looked back at her with surprise before realizing it wasn't worth bothering to deny it. She sighed quietly, "We got together at Nationals last year. This is all bringing back memories. Not to mention the fact that we _are_ technically in the same State at the moment!"

Quinn nodded, understanding.

"But don't worry!" Mercedes pulled on a smile, "I know that boat has passed. It's just… Being here… You know…"

"I know. How about we take our coffee break now? I feel that there is a caramel coffee frappuccino with your name on it in that Starbucks over right over there!" She pointed to the branch of the coffee chain on the opposite side of the street.

Mercedes broke into a smile. Quinn always knew just what she needed. She'd spent a lot of time over the last few months building up her friend and helping her to come to terms with her feelings over Beth. But the favor had been returned and moments like now reminded her why she was thrilled that their relationship had been restored.

"If you get the coffee then I'll get the cake!"

"It's a deal!"

They drank their drinks and laughed over the drama that unfolded at Nationals last year. Quinn was now in a place where she could speak of Finn and Rachel without pain. It had taken a while but she had become the bigger person and was still in the process of mending bridges with them. It would take time to fully heal that particular triangle, but there were no residual feelings on Quinn's side so her weirdness over it had been removed. Santana was the only one who harbored any resentment, but this year after auditioning and voting, she and Tina were sharing the solos and she knew they were going to rock it!

Quinn's eyes turned mischievous. "Cedes, that guy over there has been checking you out for the last fifteen minutes!"

"What guy?"

"Don't turn your head yet- he's two tables across in the blue Warbler style blazer."

Mercedes waited impatiently for a whole ten seconds before trying to be subtle in turning her head. Unfortunately she wasn't subtle enough because he immediately locked eyes with her and broke out into a huge smile. As a reflex she smiled back before realizing what she was doing and giggling as she rapidly turned her head back to her friend.

"Very subtle Cedes. Nicely done!" quipped her friend.

Mercedes widened her eyes at her meaningfully for her to drop the subject but Quinn was having none of it. She was enjoying this. And she was glad to see her friend having some male interest to get her out of her funk. Apart from an anonymous card in her locker on Valentine's Day, nothing much had happened to lift her out of her emotional relationship funk since Shane. And this guy checking her out was seriously gorgeous! He had light skin, long hair in locks and the most incredible eyes she'd seen since Sam. And he seemed to really be into Mercedes.

"Don't look now but they're coming over!"

Mercedes refused to turn her head as the devastatingly attractive guy and his friend stopped by their table. She was going to kill Quinn when this was over!

"Hi! Are you guys here for the show choir competition?" Suddenly he was standing only inches away from her and it was clearly obvious that his voice and body were as sexy as his face.

Quinn could only grin widely and blink up at him. Mercedes fared slightly better, somehow managing to maneuver her head to form a nod.

"That's so cool. I guess we'll see you there tomorrow then. By the way, my name's Brandon and this is my friend Kyle." Quinn's eyes were already firmly locked on Kyle and that grin hadn't moved an inch.

Mercedes took the large strong hand that was offered to her. "I-I'm Mercedes." When the hell did her voice get so squeaky?

Brandon nodded his head in acknowledgement before extending the hand to her friend.

"And I'm Quinn." She didn't fare much better in the squeaky voice department.

"Well it's been great meeting you lovely ladies. I'll guess we'll see you tomorrow at the theater. All the best for your performance."

The girls were barely able to nod their thanks as their eyes followed the two young men out of Starbucks before squealing at each other and descending into girly giggles.

* * *

Sam's breath stuck in his chest and he leaned forward in his seat when he heard the New Directions being announced.

Sam watched as Mercedes calmly walked onto the stage in a pretty dress and stood directly under the spotlight. She smiled up at the audience. _(__**A/N bold italics in this section represent the group singing together**_)

Mercedes took a deep breath then began to speak

_Prejudice… There's a song about it.  
Like to hear? Here it goes…_

Santana and Brittany suddenly appeared either side of her and Santana suddenly snatched the mike.

I wear tight clothing, high heel shoes  
It doesn't mean that I'm a prostitute (no, no, no)

Brittany leaned forward.

_I like rap music, wear hip hop clothes  
That doesn't mean that I'm out sellin' dope (no, no, no)_

Mercedes ran a hand down her straight weave.

Oh my, forgive me for having straight hair  
It doesn't mean there's another blood in my heirs  
I might date another race or color  
It doesn't mean I don't like my strong black brothers

Brittany and Santana leaned together.

(Oh, oh, oh, oh) Why, oh why must it be this way?  
(Oh, oh, oh, oh) Before you can read me you got to learn how to see me

Then all three sang the chorus as one

(I said)  
Free your mind and the rest will follow  
Be color-blind, don't be so shallow  
Free your mind and the rest will follow  
Be color-blind, don't be so shallow

This time Mercedes and Santana took a line each until the end of the song:

_So I'm a sista  
Buy things with cash  
That really doesn't mean that all my credit's bad (Oh)_

So why dispute me and waste my time  
Because you really think the price is high for me  
I can't look without being watched  
You rang my buy before I made up my mind

Oh now attitude why even bother  
I can't change your mind, can't change my color

_**(Oh, oh, oh, oh) **__Why, oh why must it be this way?  
__**(Oh, oh, oh, oh)**__ Before you can read me you got to learn how to see me_

_**(I said)  
Free your mind and the rest will follow  
Be color-blind, don't be so shallow  
Free your mind and the rest will follow  
Be color-blind, don't be so shallow**_

Free your mind and the rest will follow  
Be color-blind, don't be so shallow  
Free your mind and the rest will follow  
Be color-blind, don't be so shallow

Free your mind

They ran off the stage to rapturous applause and Sam continued to watch as Quinn made her way to the center of the stage alone, stood in front of the microphone and closed her eyes taking a deep breath.

The sound of the song's introduction filled the air. He immediately recognized it from her Santana's audition last year.

_He left no time to regret Kept his lips wet With his same old safe bet  
Me and my head high And my tears dry Get on without my guy  
You went back to what you knew So far removed from all that we went through  
And I tread a troubled track My odds are stacked I'll go back to black_

_We only said goodbye with words I died a hundred times  
You go back to her And I go back to... black, black...  
I go back to... I go back to..._

_We only said goodbye with words I died a hundred times  
You go back to her And I go back to... black..._

Suddenly the music changed and became slightly more up-tempo. Slowly the rest of the New Directions stepped onto the stage.

Tina broke away from them and stepped up to the microphone

_All I can ever be to you, Is a darkness that we knew,  
And this regret I've got accustomed to,  
Once it was so right, When we were at our high,  
Waiting for you in the hotel at night,  
I knew I hadn't met my match, But every moment we could snatch,  
I don't know why I got so attached,  
It's my responsibility, And you don't owe nothing to me,  
But to walk away I have no capacity_

Sam was stunned. He'd never heard Tina's voice like that before. In fact, he'd rarely heard Tina sing at all and when he had she had always used her voice pretty softly. But now she was belting her words and her voice had an edge he had never noticed before. He wondered who the hell had coaxed it out of her because Mr Schue would happily have let a talent sit unnoticed like that in his Glee club for the whole of a person's time there. Especially someone like Tina who would never fight for herself. He couldn't help but wonder if Mercedes had a hand in this...

The rest of the group started to hum and sing backup while Mike broke to the front and starts to dance with Brittany.

_He walks away, The sun goes down, He takes the day but I'm grown,  
And in your way, in this blue shade, My tears dry on their own,_

_I don't understand, Why do I stress A man,  
When there's so many bigger things at hand,  
We could a never had it all, We had to hit a wall, So this is inevitable withdrawal,  
Even if I stop wanting you, A Perspective pushes true,  
I'll be some next man's other woman soon,_

_I shouldn't play myself again, I should just be my own best friend,  
Not shoot myself in the head with stupid men_

The whole group including Quinn draw forward to surround Tina, backing her up as she sings her final chorus.

He walks away, The sun goes down, He takes the day but I'm grown,  
And in your way, in this blue shade, My tears dry on their own,

They are met with rapturous applause by the audience and Sam couldn't help but join in with pride for Tina.

But they haven't finished yet. It was the group number now and the introduction had already begun. The group spread out around the stage and went down on one knee, heads bent forward as if a heavy weight was on their backs.

Their voices started low and collectively grew as one.

**_Mm ba ba de Um bum ba de Um bu bu bum da de_**

Finn finally got his time to shine with his constipated singing face

_Pressure pushing down on me Pressing down on you no man ask for_

Wow! Mike can sing? Apparently so!

_Under pressure - that burns a building down  
Splits a family in two Puts people on streets_

**_Um ba ba be Um ba ba be De day da Ee day da_**

Quinn now stepped forward.

_It's the terror of knowing What the world is about  
Watching some good friends Screaming 'Let me out'_

And then Brittanny...

_Pray tomorrow - gets me higher  
Pressure on people - people on streets _

**_Day day de mm hm Da da da ba ba O.k._**

It was Puck's turn now.

_Chippin' around - kick my brains around the floor  
These are the days it never rains but it pours_

**_Ee do ba be Ee da ba ba ba Um bo bo Be lap  
People on streets - ee da de da de  
People on streets - ee da de da de da de da_**

Now it was time for Mercedes to step forward

_It's the terror of knowing What this world is about  
Watching some good friends Screaming 'Let me out'  
Pray tomorrow - gets me higher high high..._

(Because yes she is still going to get that glory note)

_Pressure on people - people on streets_

Out of nowhere, Kurt came through in a falsetto which was pitch perfect.

_Turned away from it all like a blind man  
Sat on a fence but it don't work_

While Artie wheeled to face him and went back down to a low voice.

_Keep coming up with love but it's so slashed and torn_

Another Mercedes note...

_Why - why - why ? Love love love love love  
Insanity laughs under pressure we're cracking_

The new Directions were back to doing what they do best in a performance, jumping to the beat and clapping their hands above their heads...

**_Can't we give ourselves one more chance? Why can't we give love that one more chance?  
Why can't we give love give love give love give love give love give love give love give love give love..._**

And because Rachel always has to have the last word...

_'Cause love's such an old fashioned word And love dares you to care for  
The people on the (__**people on the streets**__) edge of the night  
And loves (__**people on the streets**__) dares you to change our way of_

_Caring about ourselves This is our last dance This is our last dance This is ourselves  
Under pressure Under pressure Pressure_

Sam was first on his feet, with the rest of the audience milliseconds behind him.

They had just nailed it! If they didn't place on the merit of that performance then it would be a travesty! He couldn't wait to go down and congratulate them!

* * *

The group ran off stage in a complete high. Their performance had gone well and they'd felt it. This was going to be their year for sure! They made their way back to their waiting room to wait for Mr Schue and see what he had to say. It could only be good things.

"I want to go to the bathroom before Mr Schue gets down here. I'll see you back in the room."

Quinn nodded at Mercedes. "Do you want me to come with you?"

"Nah. I do actually need to go. This morning's sneaky coffee's gone straight through me! Just go ahead with the others. I won't be too long."

"Okay," said the blond reluctantly as Mercedes shot through one of the side doors. There was already a group of four girls in front of the mirror. They stopped talking when Mercedes walked in but resumed when she shut her stall door.

She could tell from their accents that they were from one of the Tennessee schools.

"I can't believe you slept with Ashton last week! He's okay in bed but someone needs to tell him that he's a useless kisser."

There was a communal groan of agreement. "Scott isn't much better," said one of the other voices and they descended into giggles.

"So who's the best guy you've kissed?"

"On the football team or the school in general?"

"Aw Kelly, I can't believe you even asked such a question! Let's just narrow it down to this year."

"This year? Hmmmm… Definitely Chase!" the voice who had to have been Kelly replied.

There was a murmur of agreement. "Oooh yes. Chase is hot!"

How skeevy were these girls? Mercedes didn't mean to eavesdrop but their conversation was just so fascinating that she couldn't bring herself to flush just yet!

How the other half lived...

Kelly was still talking. "Yes he is. But I still want to get my hands on that new guy. You know that blond Adonis on the football team. He's quiet but I bet he knows how to work those hefty lips of his."

Mercedes froze. Surely not... A coincidence perhaps?

"Oh I think I know who you mean! That Sam guy with the abs who just replaced the quarterback?" There was a chuckle of recognition.

Definitely _not_ a coincidence...

"You should ask Mona. They were eating each other's faces at the after prom party! I heard it was really hot!"

"Eating faces?" That was Kelly's voice again. "I think you'll find they were dry humping in the middle of the floor!"

There was a giggle that could only have come from Mona followed by, "Well what can I say? The boy sure knows what he's doing! But I doubt he even knows my name. It's not like I had the chance to say 'hi my name is Mona, how are you doing?' before he was all over me kissing me breathless!"

"Well obviously he does know your name," said a voice which hadn't yet spoken up previously, "because I saw him here earlier. He must've come to watch you perform!"

Kelly let out a whoop of delight, "Go get your man girl! We can arrange to stay out of the hotel room late if you need us to. You need to make that guy's long trip worthwhile and if that kiss was his idea of foreplay then you're going to be in for a really good time…"

Their laughter and voiced faded as the door opened and they headed out.

Mercedes staggered out of the stall and stared at her reflection in the mirror. She looked as if she'd just seen a ghost. She wished she'd heard wrong but she knew she hadn't. But why should this bother her? She and Sam were long over. He was free to lip lock and even share hotel rooms with whoever he liked. It's not like she had any right to say anything when she'd been the one who started seeing Shane so quickly.

But that didn't stop it from hurting a little bit.

And the worst part was knowing that he was somewhere there. At Nationals! She knew he hadn't joined the glee club at his school so he wouldn't have been there to perform. He would had to have been there with someone. Or to see someone. Sam Evans kissing nameless girls seemed out of character, but driving across State in the pursuit of romance did seem like the kind of thing he would do.

The thing that got her most was that all four of those girls were Quinn wannabe clones. Just the type of chicken fillet wearing girl that Sam had said he was no longer interested in. Well so much for that! There was probably plenty that he was no longer interested in now that he'd left Ohio and she had cut ties.

Thank goodness her letter had never reached him. She was ashamed of all the things that she'd written in it. She could imagine him sitting there laughing with a bunch of skinny girls at her childish letter. They would be wondering aloud why he'd gone to prom with a girl like her and he would probably be agreeing with them.

She washed her hands under cold water and used a damp paper towel on her chest to try and cool herself down without dislodging the makeup on her face.

She needed to get back before Quinn came out to find her.

And she wanted to avoid the risk of accidentally bumping into Sam.

* * *

Sam and Kurt had it all planned. Sam would watch their performances then come to their waiting room where he would be reunited with the group. They were then going for a group meal and Kurt had already ensured the number in the reservation had included him. There should be opportunities for him to speak with Mercedes alone if he sussed out the situation carefully enough.

And so, once the New Directions had finished performing, he'd slowly made his way down to where the waiting rooms were. Kurt was going to wait for him in the hallway so that he would know where to go and to get him past the extra level of security there. Hopefully he would be with his former classmates to walk with them and see where they'd placed.

What he didn't expect was to see Mercedes in the hallway straight ahead of him. She was still wearing her purple 50s style shimmery performance dress. Clearly she'd also been involved in the costume design for this production. Even though she didn't have a solo, he could see the stamp of Mercedes all over their performance.

She'd obviously just come out of the bathroom and had a slightly dazed expression on her beautiful face. That dazed look was going to become a lot stronger in a few moments…

He tried to speed up to catch her but she was going pretty fast herself.

"Hey Mercy!"

Her head snapped around at the sound of his voice. The fact that she was walking fast as she turned caused her to lose her footing and she tripped over her own feet, stumbling to the floor.

He ran to assist her but she was already halfway up by the time he reached her. He placed strong hands on her forearms as he helped her the rest of the way up. Her skin felt like fire and he heard her take a sharp intake of breath as he touched her. She quickly pulled her arms back from what he hoped was simply embarrassment and he balled his fists nervously.

"Uh, thanks!" She brushed down her dress and straightened herself up again.

They stood in nervous silence for a moment.

"Er – hi!" That was as good a place to start as any. With a greeting.

"Hey Sam!" Her smile was genuine even though she was shocked to be seeing him.

This had all played so much better in his head than it was in reality. What he needed was his wingman Ollie to diffuse some of the tension. But he was back in Memphis waiting for a text to find out what was happening.

"You look great!"

"Er – thanks!"

"I mean… your performance was great. All of your performances. The new Directions I mean!"

This wasn't going nearly as smoothly as it had in his dream. Mercedes finally broke into a smile at his familiar ramble and he could feel a blush creeping up from his neck.

"It's really good to see you Sam."

He nodded his agreement.

"I didn't mean to shut you out-"

"Hush! That's history now. I'm just glad you're doing okay." He'd never envisioned this conversation being so… awkward!

"But seriously! I-"

"It's fine Mercy! Kurt explained you were upset and-"

"Speak of the devil! The search party have arrived!"

He could clearly hear the change in her tone. He spun around to see where she was looking and saw Kurt and Quinn heading towards them. Kurt grinned knowingly while Quinn's eyes nearly dropped out of her head. That was when it occurred to him. Mercedes had been shocked by hearing his voice but she didn't seem so surprised to see him. Did she know he was coming already? Had Kurt said something?

Before he had a chance to think further on it, Kurt folded him into a warm hug.

"It is sooo good to see you!" he gushed.

Quinn looked nervous and he suddenly realized why. What was the protocol here? She was his ex-girlfriend so maybe a hug would not be appropriate. But they'd been friends when he left and she'd helped out so much with the kids so maybe one was. Then again, he hadn't hugged Mercedes who was also his ex, so it would be weird if he gave one just to Quinn. But then again, a handshake would be way too formal.

His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed that both girls' eyes had focused on a point behind him. Hell, even Kurt was looking. He turned to see two extremely attractive guys heading their way. The one with long locks seemed to be looking directly at Mercedes.

"Hi guys." The boys had drawn practically level and Sam knew that semi-flirtatious tone in Quinn's voice any day.

"Hey Mercedes," said the long haired guy.

She smiled shyly at him and muttered her greeting in return.

Clearly these guys already knew each other.

"We just wanted to say that we really enjoyed your performance." Long haired guy still had eyes on Mercedes but now his friend spoke up.

"We'll be on ourselves shortly so we'll catch you later."

They nodded in acknowledgement to the guys before leaving.

Kurt's eyes followed them until they were out of sight around the corner before turning back to the girls.

"Someone's been holding out on me! I need full details. SPILL!"

"It's nothing!" Quinn blushed and Mercedes looked guilty.

Sam felt a pang of jealousy and immediately quashed it, knowing that he had no right.

"Sam, why are you here?" asked Quinn.

"That was my question!" said Mercedes, slightly put out.

Kurt ushered them all forward. "Questions will be asked and answered en route back to our room. Sam has a Glee reunion to attend!"

Mercedes shot a panicked and confused look towards Quinn before walking along with them.

It was hardly the first conversation with Mercedes that Sam had expected to have, but at least the ice had been broken.

But there would be more opportunities in the afternoon and evening…

* * *

_**Nationals featured songs were:**_

_**Free Your Mind by En Vogue (Mercedes, Santana and Brittany because coming back I love the idea of the Troubletones)**_

_**Back To Black and Tears Dry On Their Own by Amy Winehouse (Quinn and Tina)**_

_**Under Pressure by Queen and David Bowie (New Directions)**_


	20. Nationals: Part 2

Sam fell into step next to Mercedes as they walked back towards the room that the rest of the group were waiting in. Her head was down and she looked as if she wanted to say something but was refusing to look at him.

But he could still smell her and damn she smelled good! He missed her scent and he'd almost forgotten how heady it made him feel. Whatever she was wearing today was the exact same one that she'd worn at prom. He fought away images of his face being buried in her neck...

He caught Quinn noticing him glancing at Mercedes and kept his eyes forwards. Kurt had said that they were now good friends but it still felt uncomfortable to him. His two exes being such good friends with each other. Especially as they were so very different. He understood that they'd already been good friends before but that had been before he'd arrived in Lima. Quinn used to absently talk about her a lot and when he'd started to get to know Mercedes he felt that the things Quinn had said had given him a head start. Although the two girls hadn't been particularly close at the time that he'd been seeing Quinn, she had still always spoken of Mercedes with fondness and affection.

And now they were here, about to see the rest of the group.

He didn't know why he felt so nervous. These were his friends. Practically his family at one point.

But he'd cut them off. He had snuck away as silently as he could without the proper goodbyes. It wasn't personal. It was the difficult situation he was in when he'd left and the hurried way in which his family had had to go.

Plus the fact that they would be a link constantly reminding him of Mercedes. He understood her desire for a lack of communication more than he realized...

The door was slightly ajar and he could hear Puck's laugh coming through it.

Mercedes walked through the door first, heading straight for a corner. She was followed by Quinn and then Kurt.

Sam filed in last. He kept his head down, waiting to see who would notice him first.

"Oh my god it's Saaaaaaaam!" It was Brittany who spotted him from the opposite side of the room and literally leaped at him, flinging her arms and legs around him. Luckily he easily caught her because Stacy had the habit of doing exactly the same thing but he physically had to take two steps back to maintain his balance. She showered his face with kisses which were way beyond those of casual friendship but he let her get away with it. She was Brittany after all. If these were what lady kisses were, then Santana would be an extremely happy bunny although he was also expecting to hear another _no me gusta _coming from behind him!

The rest of the group exclaimed loudly and joined in with a hug reminiscent of the one given to Mr Schue when he told them he'd forsake his Broadway dream to stay with them. They were all talking on top of each other and asking so many questions that he honestly couldn't hear any of them. Puck slapped him hard on the back and even Finn gave him an awkward hug. Things had never quite been the same between him and Fnn after the Quinn incident, but Sam had genuinely moved on and couldn't be bothered to harbor bad feelings about it anymore.

Even Mr Schue smiled. "It's really good to see you Sam." He gave him a one armed hug.

Artie raised his fist for a bump "Preach!"

After a few moments of excited noise and chaos, the penny started to drop and various eyes started turning to the corner where Mercedes and Quinn remained. Mercedes expression was impossible to read and she shrugged. "What? We already met in the hall. I wanted to let you all have your moment too."

Santana shot her a look of suspicion and Brittany beamed. "I told you he'd come back for her. They're each other's oyster!"

"Don't you mean lobster?" asked Artie.

"Nope," said Brittany, quite seriously. Artie simply shrugged in resignation. A blush rose rapidly from Sam's neck but she wasn't finished. "So are you guys back together now that we got rid of the troll?"

He shook his head rapidly, not daring to look at Mercedes, but knowing her well enough to predict that her eyes would be firmly fixed to the floor... "No. But we're still friends. And it's all good!"

Mercedes raised her head and shot him a watery smile of thanks.

Wisely Santana sensed the need to change the subject. "So what brings you here Guppy?"

He grinned widely. "I heard you had a solo and wanted to see it for myself."

She chuckled sarcastically but deep down looked pleased. "And how did we do?"

"Totally awesome! And Tina, you were amazing. I never heard your voice like that before!"

Tina beamed and Mike pulled her proudly into his chest.

"What happened dude! We never hear from you anymore." Puck tried hard not to show how pleased he was to see Sam but didn't quite pull it off.

"Yeah I'm sorry. I had no phone and no computer and things all just ran away with me. But I'm back on Facebook so now I can link up with y'all again!"

A small cheer went up in the room.

"So how come you're not singing Sam?" Mr Schue was curious as to why Sam wasn't now in a rival glee club.

He couldn't very well tell him it was because he didn't really feel like singing anymore so he told them that he was concentrating on his sports and dyslexia tutoring and didn't have time for any more extra-curricular activities. But they all seemed to buy it.

"So did you miss us?"

He was surprised that it was Lauren of all people who asked this. He felt his eyes drawn to Mercedes when the question was asked and he had to make a conscious effort not to look at her when the rest of the group were already focused on him. "Of course. We had our dramas but you guys really looked out for me. Memphis just doesn't feel the same as McKinley and the New Directions."

"I'm glad they don't compare to us. But don't get too caught up in the whole 'I missed you so much I grew a vagina' shit!"

The thump that Lauren gave Puck for making that statement was so loud that even Mr Shue didn't even bother picking him up on his language.

"So are you staying in the same hotel as us?" asked Blaine

"No. I'm at my cousin's about a mile down the road. I was already going to be here this weekend but it was Kurt that told me about Nationals and how we could make it a Glee reunion. So you have to thank him for my presence today. Plus he mentioned you were all going out to a restaurant tonight which happened to be one of my favorites while I lived up here and I couldn't resist the idea of one more meal there!"

He noticed Mercedes chuckle to herself. She knew that he was always obsessed with his belly. Either eating lots because he was hungry or worrying about it getting fat and flabby. With him it was always one extreme or the other.

* * *

The next hour was spent in a relaxed manner, chatting with the group, filling them in on his new life, home and even Stacy and Stevie. He told them about Ollie and even about their plans to take a road trip in Europe.

At the end of it they were called to look at the leader board.

Yet again Sam fell into step with Mercedes as they made their over. "I'm pretty sure you guys placed this time."

"I hope so. We've all put a lot of work into this." She looked slightly flustered.

"You had a lot to do with it didn't you Mercy. There's no way Tina would be up there singing lead without your influence."

She smiled bashfully. "I get to be vocal about being underappreciated, she doesn't. Sometimes it takes another person to stop all the traffic so that a voice can be heard above the noise."

"Very true. Especially of Mr Schue."

"How's your dad?"

Sam visibly stiffened. "Still dry after the last lot of rehab and still a douche-"

"Hey! Mr 'So June'! You needs to walk faster because I've gots to gets my acceptance speech ready!" Santana and Brittany had come either side of Sam, linking their arms through his and forcing him to walk faster.

Sam visibly recoiled at the use of those particular words and his facial expression was one of devastation. Mercedes shot Santana a death glare which appeared to have no effect of the feisty Latina. "Just telling it like it is!" She replied, snapping her head so fast that she nearly whipped Sam with her ponytail.

* * *

The New Directions placed fourth (not just top 10 but top 5 no less!) and it triggered an afternoon of celebration and elation, dampened only by Mr Schue forcing them to rehearse their next group number for tomorrow's performance.

By the time they'd gone out for the meal, Sam had taken the opportunity to have short one on one conversations with most of the group, including Quinn. At the dinner table, he was sat with the boys, between Mike and Puck to be precise, and the girls used it as an opportunity to catch up with each other. Quinn said that most of her conversation with Sam had been about his family and the move and catching up on various members from church.

"He did ask me about you tho."

"And what did you tell him?"

"That you're still healing."

Frustratingly Mercedes couldn't fault that answer.

* * *

It was still light after the meal and they had the options of sharing taxis or walking the twenty minutes back to the hotel.

Before Mercedes had even decided what she wanted to do, Kurt had ushered her next to Sam and loudly told Mr Schue that Sam would be walking Mercedes back to the hotel so they didn't need to worry about her.

"You need to bring her straight back. No detours. Right Sam?"

"Sure Mr Schue."

Mercedes was too busy glaring at Kurt. He simply leaned into her, gave her a peck on the cheek and whispered "You'll thank me for this!" before heading his own way with Blaine.

Suddenly it felt as if everyone else had disappeared and Sam was the last person left.

"Shall we?" She nodded and allowed him to hold the restaurant door open for her.

The first couple of minutes of the walk were in complete silence, both excited and fearful of the conversation ahead. Neither knew where to start and Mercedes was sure that she was never going to let on what she'd heard about him in the bathrooms.

"Did you mean what you said?" The words had spontaneously spilled from her mouth as they walked.

"Huh?" He stopped walking and looked her straight in the eye.

Yeah. It would have helped if she had been a little clearer with her question.

"About us I mean. Are we all good now?"

"Yeah. What's past is past. We were friends before and we can be friends again."

She nodded and kept silent as she resumed walking. But her face had an expression of disbelief and Sam couldn't let it go.

"What do you want me to say Mercy?"

"The truth."

"What truth?"

"I know you had to have seen the So June video. The way you reacted when Santana mentioned it let it on."

"And?" His eyes narrowed.

"And your being so nice to me isn't helping. It isn't helping at all. It feels like there's an elephant still in the room. And that elephant's currently sitting on my chest."

She watched him sigh, frustration flickering on his face.

"Okay, so if I was to say that the video made me mad would that help you?"

"No- I mean yes. Look Sam I just-"

"Okay so I _was_ mad!" She saw anger flash up in his eyes. He was going back and remembering what he'd felt. She'd opened the floodgates and immediately regretted it. "It hurt me to the core. I watched it over and over again. And all I could think was 'is that all I meant to you'? A little summer fling? When I left you accused me of treating us like that and then you did exactly the same thing! But yours was worse. Yours was in front of everyone at school! Of all the ways I'd imagined Jacob Ben Israel's little revelation going down, that was the last thing I expected. To be totally dismissed by you like that. For the whole world to be told that I meant nothing."

"Sam that's not how I meant it-"

"And then to rub salt into the wound that _guy_... You had every right to move on but you were talking about having babies with him! _Babies! _I- I wanted you so badly but I took things slow because I knew this was all new to you. I treated you with the respect that you deserved and didn't rush you into anything too physical. You knew I wanted to go back to school with you and hold hands in the hallways for all to see. But somehow, weeks later, you're _dancing_ down the halls with some new guy talking about 'cocoa babies'. Dammit Mercedes! I never thought race was an issue between us. Did you not want babies with me because they wouldn't be totally black?"

Mercedes' heart dropped to the floor. It had never even occurred to her how that statement could've been taken. Twenty seconds footage of her thoughtlessness had caused so much damage. She had so much more to apologize for than she'd ever realized.

She looked up into Sam's eyes and saw they were full of tears. She'd been hurting so much that it had made her selfish and blind and she had never intended to hurt Sam like that. She hardly knew what to say. But at the same time she was also angry too. "How could you even think that of me?"

"What else was I supposed to think Mercy?" He was rubbing the back of his neck again.

She started to speak but stopped before any sound came out of her mouth. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose between her eyes like she had a violent headache. "Sam that one really hurt!" She shook her head before continuing, her words slow and deliberate. "I knew others would play the race card on us but never you. Never! Back in New York you said you couldn't care less about our colors. That we weren't opposites at all. And yet now you think that I would have had issue with us bringing Mixed children into this world? They would have been the perfect symbol of the combination of our love. What made you think I wouldn't have wanted to eventually have that with you?"

"Nothing did until I saw that clip. Not only had you dismissed me in a hurry, but you had replaced me with someone less visually controversial - stupid pencil moustache aside. We were supposed to fight for this together yet it looked as if you had simply given up and gone along with the expectations of others. He could have just said babies but no, he said 'cocoa babies'. I took that as a personal insult. Can you blame me?"

She thought about it from his view from the very first time and was shocked at the answer. "No Sam. I can't blame you. But I can tell you that you were wrong. Very wrong!"

"Then I'm sorry I thought that of you. But I had to let you know how I felt. How it sounded."

"You were hurting. I'm sure you thought the worst of me for not being in touch."

"I was sad. But I didn't think the worst of you. I was holding on to memories of the good times. Considering how little we were together, there were a lot of good times." All the anger and frustration had vanished from his face and he smiled softly as he thought back to them.

Mercedes smiled back. "Yeah. There were definitely good times. Saturday morning Doctor Who still happens frequently in the Jones household. I've turned Quinn into a fan. She likes the 11th doctor the most. I think it's because he's the youngest."

"I think they're all cool."

"Kurt thinks bowties are cool!"

"So does Ollie. He actually owns three. And they're the proper kind that you actually have to tie!"

"Those two definitely have to meet!"

"I agree. I'm working on it! So far they've only seen each other through my Skype screen."

"Well I'm so glad that you've got a good friend where you are."

"So am I. It makes a big difference."

"He can help beat all the girls away from your path!"

"Who says there's lots of girls?" Mercedes looked away and didn't want to answer that.

He watched her for a second, knowing that she was holding back but not wanting to push her any further. "Anyway, I'm sure you're the one getting all the looks in McKinley."

"Strangely enough no. I think Shane's put everybody off me. Not that there's any guys at that school that I'd seriously consider dating!"

"Or maybe your long locked admirer slash competitor might be in with a chance then." The bitterness was back in his voice.

"Sam you have no right to be jealous of any man who looks at me"

"I know. I can't exactly blame them for looking. They're just starting to notice what I saw a long time ago. But it doesn't change the way that I feel."

"Well I'm afraid I can't change that. But I'm sure you've moved on yourself. It's not like we can both pretend we haven't locked lips with other people since we broke up. We've started on the path to healing. We shouldn't turn off it now." She couldn't bring herself to mention what she had overheard about him in the bathroom. To confront him and hear him say it would make it real and she didn't want to deal with it. But what she could talk about was Shane. "I messed up big time with Shane. I tried to fill the hole that you left in my heart but it was a stupid thing to do. Everyone tried to tell me but I didn't want to listen. There were so many warning signs and I chose to ignore them all. Not only do I make a bad choice, I also go and pick a complete creep!"

"But you didn't deserve what he did to you. Nobody does."

"That's true. But I should have seen it coming. I shut out all the people that I needed to get me through that dark time. And that includes you." She met his eyes again. "Do you really forgive me?"

He held her gaze. "I forgave you a long time ago Mercy. I understood better than you give me credit for. After all, I do have a history of rebounding onto Santana of all people! But there's something I need you to do for me."

"What's that?"

"I need you to forgive yourself."

"What do you mean?"

"There's loads of stuff here. I'm glad you forced me to speak up coz there's things we needed to say to each other face and clear the air of. Now we've done that you just need to let it go. And I need to do the same."

She couldn't meet his eyes because hers were full of tears. He touched her cheek softly. "No more tears for me now Mercy. We're each stronger people now. We'll never be able to move forwards if our heads are still facing the past."

She felt his fingers intertwine with hers and she let him take her hand. It was a gesture of closeness and allowed them to both walk, lost in their own thoughts yet still connected.

Within what felt like moments they were outside the hotel and it was time for goodbyes. The curfew had passed ten minutes ago and Mercedes needed to get upstairs before a search party was sent out.

After a few moments of staring at each other in silence, Sam broke first.

"So where does this leave us?"

She shrugged. "How do you define 'us' in this context?"

"I mean 'us' as in me and you." Sam was leaning against the door, trying to look casual and failing badly. His face was burning.

"And what do you mean by me and you?" was Mercedes' eventual response.

"I mean two people who were friends in high school. What I said back in that room to everyone about Facebook is totally true."

"So you want to be Facebook friends?"

"Why not?"

She paused for a moment and thought about it. Facebook was neutral territory. It was like being seen out together in public and nothing more. He was looking at her with a sad expression on his face. Those puppy dog eyes. What Sam wants is what Sam gets. Stacy was also pretty proficient with the same facial expression and knew how to work it big time! It never failed.

"Mercy I'm not trying to pressure you. I haven't driven across the State to make some huge gesture or try to sweep you off your feet. That ship has passed and I would never do anything to make you feel uncomfortable. Our lives are at the crossroads. In a few months we'll both be in college. You'll be in New York and Ollie and I have settled on Atlanta. But there was a little part of me that dares to hope, that remembers that we were friends first. A part that doesn't want to lose this completely. I'm not asking for last June. But I was kind of hoping for two people who are on the kind of level where they can sit in the Lima Bean discussing weight, or laugh at goofy impersonations, or dance the robot in full view of the public." He sighed as she continued to stare up at him. "I guess what I'm trying to say, in a not in a very eloquent way, is can we start over? The cool friends bit before things got complicated?"

For the second time today, Sam struggled to read the expression in her eyes. "It's just that I'd hate to lose you all over again. I don't think I could bear it. Is that really too much to ask?"

Mercedes shook her head. "It's more than I could ask for considering how I've treated you."

Sam shook his head and put his finger to her lips and tried with all his might to follow the finger with a kiss. "I told you – no more of that apology."

Again they stared at each other, neither wanting to be the first to say goodbye.

Sam broke the silence by smiling and holding out his arms. "Hug it out?" Damn she'd missed that goofy lopsided grin! But not as much as she'd missed the feeling of being in his arms. Of feeling his firm chest and knowing that she was secure.

"Promise me you'll send me a postcard from every country you pass through in Europe!"

"I promise Mercy."

"And kiss Stacey and Stevie for me…"

* * *

Sam watched as she crossed the hotel lobby and disappeared into the elevator.

So now they were friends. Facebook friends.

Yep. He'd take that.

It was better than the nothing that they shared at the moment.

And their hardest conversations had all been done and dusted. He hadn't expected the amount of residual anger that had emerged, but the reality was, it had to all come out for the air to ever be truly clear between them again. He wondered if he was right to have held back about telling her that he'd received the letter before concluding that it was for the best. For her to know that she loved him would have been extra pressure that he hadn't wanted to put on her at this time. Besides, he'd looked in her eyes and he'd been reassured by what he'd seen in them that every word she'd written was absolute truth and it wasn't over for her either.

He had time, maybe too much time. They'd go to their different colleges, he would travel. She might even meet someone. But it wouldn't be _the _one because she was never going to forget what they had and what they shared.

Their first romance had started from friendship.

And now that he had his foot in the door he didn't doubt their second would begin exactly the same way...


	21. Cassablanca

**_Seven years later…_**

**_Flashback:_**

_Mercedes took a step backwards. The guy wasn't being creepy, he was just being persistently all up in her face._

_She looked round behind him to see Stacy and Stevie playing obliviously on the slide._

_The short guy with the 'badass' swagger followed her eyes, shrugging when he couldn't work out what she was looking at, before turning his attention back to her. "So how about it shawty?"_

_She sighed with frustration. This fool was probably even younger than she was but he wasn't taking no for an answer. In a way she knew she should feel flattered by the attention but she wasn't. And she couldn't just walk away because of needing to keep the kids in sight._

_"How about simply NO!" Her diva voice was starting to creep in._

_"Aw come on! Don't leave a brother with a broken heart! A fine girl like you needs to be treated right and I sure know how to do it!"_

_Now she really was getting angry. She felt her spine stiffen and her fists clench. Having an older brother had its advantages in making her far less intimidated by men. "Treating me right would be backing off when I say I'm not interested!"_

_"Is this guy bothering you Sugar?"_

_She felt a strong arm drape leisurely around her shoulders and pull her close. She looked up to see Sam looking at her, concerned._

_Where the hell did he just appear from?_

_He absently kissed the top of Mercedes' head before turning to glare at the guy who was annoying her._

_"S-sorry I didn't realize she was your... Damn!" Luckily the kid quickly weighed up the situation and knew the best thing was to back off. Sam was taller than him and wearing a shirt that clearly showed how well built he was. Knowing he was defeated the small guy turned and mumbled as he swaggered away with his best hip-hop walk, his jeans barely staying up._

_"Uh - thanks Sam!" He was still looking at her with that intense expression of concern. But it was the fact that his arm was still slung across her shoulders that had caused butterflies to start breakdancing in her stomach._

_She'd never been this close up to Sam Evans before and he was way cuter up close than he was from a distance. His chest felt solid and strong against her and his arm made her feel safe from the world. He smelled of pepperoni and cooked cheese which, to her, equated to pretty damn tasty!_

_"Looks like I got here just in time!"_

_"Hey I was handling it!" She pouted at him._

_His chuckle was deep and it didn't help with the butterflies. "Yeah, I'm sure you were!"_

_They walked towards the small play area where Stacy was chasing Stevie and he was allowing himself to be caught. Sam seemed to suddenly realize that his arm was still around her and he nervously removed it. Mercedes instantly missed the feeling of it being there. It had felt good. More than good. 'So this is what it must feel like to have a proper boyfriend!' she thought to herself. The kids quickly caught sight of Sam and squealed happily, grabbing their things and running towards him._

_"I thought you'd be at work 'til much later!" Mercedes was struggling. How was she supposed to make conversation with Sam Evans? All she knew about him was that he'd dated Quinn and Santana, currently lived in a motel room and had the cutest younger siblings on the planet! He was never really around when she babysat so she hadn't had too many direct dealings with him outside of Glee._

_"I was supposed to. But it turns out the double shift I was supposed to be working was only a single so I'm out early." He held up the pizza box in his hand, "Fancy joining us for dinner? And maybe a movie? It'll have to involve cartoon characters but I'm sure you won't mind too much." He grinned at her with his most charming smile. "Who can resist when there is such charming company on offer?"_

_Mercedes looked at him and fought a smile of her own. The pizza box wasn't the hugest. She was sure that Sam would be able to polish it off alone and he'd already be sharing it with his siblings. The last thing she wanted to do was take food from them._

_She shook her head slowly even though the idea of spending more time with them was incredibly appealing. "Thanks but I should go. My mom'll be pleased that I'm back in time for my own dinner. But what I can do is offer you all a ride back to the motel so that your pizza doesn't get cold!"_

_A brief look of what she imagined to be disappointment passed over Sam's face before he was tackled by his siblings and he kicked out at them playfully, his hands already full keeping the pizza upright. "Okay. Today we'll just take the ride. But you'll have to join us another time. You owe me for rescuing you!"_

_She nudged him playfully. "You bet!"_

**_Flashback ends_**

Mercedes zoned out of her memory and back into the present. She looked at her watch. It had been twenty minutes since Shelly had stepped outside to take a call from her 'sort of ex but not quite' boyfriend and she was _not_ happy to have been left alone perched at the bar for that amount of time. She would never normally sit at the bar, but tonight they were together and just waiting for a table to become available.

But now she was stuck here alone at the bar. Keeping an eye on Shelly's bag and trying to keep her stool free was using every ounce of her energy and her patience was wearing thin.

Out of nowhere another guy appeared to try his luck and she debated just taking their stuff and moving somewhere else. She had no respect for girls who sat alone at bars and yet suddenly here she was doing it herself!

"So what are you drinking honey?"

Mercedes resisted the urge to smile sarcastically. The guy was old enough to be her dad and clearly wearing a wedding ring. He must have been working on the theory that if you ask a hundred girls, at least one of them would have to say yes. Well she wasn't going to be that _one. _ She turned her head and didn't even dignify him with an answer. That was, until he clumsily tried to climb up on Shelly's stool. _What was it with her and short men?_

"I'm sorry but my friend is sitting there."

"But he's not here now is he?"

Again, she wasn't going to dignify that with a correction.

"Barman, same again for the lady."

The young barman looked at Mercedes and she shook her head for the millionth time that evening. She'd already told him not to make any drinks for her unless she herself was doing the asking. Nobody was going to be buying her drinks. And in all honesty, after being sat alone at the bar for so long, she would never be stepping foot in this establishment again considering the evening's turn of events. Shelly was going to be in so much trouble when she eventually found her way back.

The old guy, not content to have taken the empty stool, was now drunkenly leaning forward into her personal space. After having already fended off two fools, she was starting to run out of the energy to fight.

"Go back home to your wife and sleep the alcohol off on the couch where she's bound to send you!"

"Is this guy bothering you Sugar?"

Seriously, she had to stop zoning out and daydreaming like this. She needed her full mental faculties for brushing off these pathetic losers.

But actually no… this time she wasn't daydreaming! She was very much still in the bar!

But that voice… And those words… Surely not…

The chances of...

She turned her head and her eyes widened in shock as she took in Sam Evans standing next to her, dressed with a license to kill, and with a huge grin on his face. She could tell by the expression in his eyes that he was having an internal debate with himself as to whether putting his arm around her would be too much in this particular situation. In all honesty it would have been perfectly welcome.

She recovered herself quickly and went along with the rescue. "You sure took your time Sam!"

"It took me a while to find my way back to you, but you always knew that I was coming!" He turned to the old guy who was clearly trying to make sense of their interaction. "That's _my_ seat!"

The message was clear and the seat was vacated in seconds.

She still stared at him, stunned.

"So what are you drinking Mercy?"

The barman sighed and again he caught her eye. But this time she nodded. He did a small double take of surprise before saying, "The lady will have a Long Island Iced Tea." Sam nodded and the drink was made.

Seeing Mercedes was still speechless he put on his best Rick voice. "_Of all the gin joints, in all the towns, in all the world she has to walk into my one!_"

The grin that was now on her face made it all worthwhile. She looked thoughtfully at him for a moment, before raising her refreshed glass and saying, "Play it again Sam!"

His grin matched hers. "You know that's a famous misquote, right!"

"I do and I don't care. It just felt right."

And it did. It had been years but she still missed stupid 'quote' conversations with Sam. She was still drinking him in. Sam Evans. He was in a freaking tuxedo for heaven's sake! It really didn't get much better than that. His hair was slightly darker, definitely shorter and his features more refined and manly. His body... Well that was still all kinds of hotness. She flushed at the thought, then flushed at the realization that Sam knew that she was blushing. He just smirked slowly, drinking her in as much as she had him and clearly looking pleased with what he saw. She knew she looked good. She was dressed up the nines in burgundy galaxy dress, her hair was freshly done and even her nails had been given special attention. She and Shelly had planned a night of glamming it up and hitting the town, Mercedes being perpetually single and Shelly in the midst of drama with her boyfriend, and trialing time apart from him, which in reality simply meant more time on the phone with each other rather than in person.

The last time she'd set eyes on Sam was at her hotel in Nashville more than nearly seven years previously. When neither of them had actually used the word 'goodbye' during their parting.

When they had agreed to be friends.

Various factors however _had _caused them to eventually lose touch, when Facebook was no longer the social networking method of choice, falling the way that MySpace had done years before. She had also had to change her number due to a freaky fellow student in college. Sam had gone to college then travelled while his family moved house when his grandpa died and his grandma moved into a nursing home. But during all the events in their lives they had never forgotten each other. It just became harder to seek the other out without looking like it was to try and start something.

Mercedes continued her admiration of Sam. How the hell had she ever been in a relationship with this guy? He was beyond gorgeous! Yet somehow it had happened. And now, after all these years, fate had finally turned her attention to them yet again. Here he was, sitting next to her at a bar, staring at her as if she was covered in whipped cream, cherries and chocolate sprinkles and he was just waiting for someone to hand him a spoon before he got stuck in.

She finally pulled herself together enough to ask the big question before he did.

"So how come you're here?"


	22. Introductions

It had been one hell of a week. Given the choice, Sam would have headed straight to the gym after work to release some tension and endorphins then crash at home or have a gaming session with Ollie. There had been meeting after meeting for the last three days, and public speaking wasn't Sam's forte. Yes he looked the part in his with his sharp suits and designer glasses, but he always felt incredibly uncomfortable. Ollie was the better speaker, but apparently Sam had the more trustworthy accent for his fellow Americans, a fact that wasn't surprising considering most movie baddies often tended to be portrayed by Brits.

There had been endless hours of promotional work to be done for the latest version of their game. It was hard to stay afloat in the gaming industry when there was so much competition but they'd somehow managed to find their own niche by, what Ollie termed, 'selling their souls to the devil.' Sam was inclined to partially agree, but enjoyed arguing the point too much to admit to it.

As young fresh naive college students, they'd been completely dazzled after being approached by one of the major gaming companies who'd noticed their game going viral online and offered them a tempting contract to work with them so that they could access their facilities and resources to beta the game and put it into full production. Of course, that came with losing a percentage of the profits, but the lump sums they were offered up front more than sweetened the deal before they could do their research properly. They were just excited that this gave them money for their dream Europe road trip, with their guaranteed job positions being held until they came back. By the time they'd started finishing their second game, wanting to do things their own way this time, with the experience that they'd gathered, they realized that they were already 'locked in'.

Much deliberation had brought about a compromise. Not their own company as such, but a subsidiary of the larger one, with the creative freedom to pick their own name and run of game titles. Ollie still wasn't happy but it was going to be as good as it got for them. They were still part of the larger company, and as such, were expected to show their faces at large corporate events such as tonight. Which is why, instead of going home, they were dressed in suits and bowties, ready to mingle and sweet talk with the movers and shakers in their industry, as well as investors. It would be a dull night. But at least there would be food!

As there were only seven staff members in their company including themselves, they'd taken the executive decision to close early and head to head out for pre corporate torture drinks. The three with family responsibilities who were not attending the function had already headed off, leaving them with just their PAs Nicole and Angela. Nicole was Sam's PA. She looked to be in her late twenties (although Sam was always too scared to ask her real age), with short spiky black hair and piercing blue eyes. On first appearances she looked like a lesbian with her severe hair, nose and lip piercings and masculine taste in clothing, but in her wallet she kept photos of her man Dante who was currently overseas serving on the armed forces. And for her unorthodox looks, she was the best and most efficient damn PA he'd ever come across and wouldn't change her for the world. Angela was slightly older, thirty seven to be precise. She was half Japanese and with petite features and a delicate manner. She saw herself as more like Ollie's mother that his PA and secretly he loved it.

The four of them were sat around their table chatting amiably and trying not to drink too much before their cars came to collect them.

Sam had been deep in conversation when Ollie had mentioned the poor girl at the bar to him.

"You should go and rescue her Sam. She's exactly your type. Plus we all know how much you love a damsel in distress!"

Sam chuckled. Since the drama that was his last girlfriend Harmony had died down, Ollie had been trying to get him back into the dating game but his heart clearly wasn't in it. It wasn't as if he didn't get much interest because he did. He was successful, not too shabby looking and comfortably wealthy for a guy his age. But the kind of girls that threw themselves into his path were precisely the ones that he wasn't interested in. They were the Quinns, Krystals and Mona's of this world. Everywhere he went they seemed to gravitate towards him. And yet he was constantly on the search for someone as close to Mercedes as possible.

It was Ollie saying that she was his type that eventually forced him to turn his head around and take a look.

His friend was not wrong! He could only see her from the back, but what he saw he definitely liked. Long thick dark hair cascading in huge wave down her smooth chocolate back, tapering down to the waist and back out into luscious curvaceous hips. The guy on the stool next to her hopped off back to his friends, clearly having been sent packing.

He watched as she pulled the stool closer, obviously trying to save it for someone. Before long another guy tried his luck and was met with the same response. This time she turned more to the side and-

Surely it couldn't be…

His breath caught in his chest.

But it was. He'd spent hours studying that face. Somehow, across from him in a busy bar in the middle of New York, sat Mercedes Jones!

He was frozen to the spot. Should he approach her? He _had_ to approach her. There was no way on this planet that he was ever going to let her walk out of his life ever again! There were so many things on their last meeting that he wished he could do all over again. And he was determined that tonight was not going to end up being a night of regret at missed opportunities like that one.

Ollie was talking to him but he heard nothing but the sound of his voice as he stood.

Unfortunately some older guy had got there faster. He could see her face more clearly from his standing position and she seemed to totally glaze over as the man opened his mouth and started speaking to her.

Sam smiled. He knew exactly what he would do. She probably didn't remember but they'd been in this precise position once before. Way before they'd even begun to notice each other. It was going to be Sam Evans to the rescue yet again!

As he approached he could see the expression on her face and he knew that she was feeling pissed off. Bearing that in mind he decided not to go for the arm around the shoulder part just in case…

He let her finish her cutting remark before smiling and saying "Is this guy bothering you Sugar?"

…

"So how come you're here?"

The square neckline of her burgundy dress made her ample breasts look amazing without showing too much cleavage. But they were still enough to provide a distraction for Sam. He needed to snap out of it. Mercedes was asking him a question. "Our office is only a few doors down the street so this is our local. I guess you could call this after work drinks or better still pre-evening drinks. Whatever you choose to call it really. But basically I'm here with work colleagues." He felt he needed to be clear on that one. "What about you?"

The pissed off look returned to her face. "I'm supposed to be going on a man free night out with my friend Shelly but she's disappeared off outside on the phone to her ex-boyfriend leaving me here alone to fight off the sharks!"

Sam laughed, "And I'm here on the stool that you were clearly trying to save. Does that make me a shark?"

She shook her head with that soft smile of hers. "No Sam, you're not a shark. You're prince charming coming to my rescue."

His grin widened. "Prince charming! Y'all know I can definitely work with that!" He looked back to his table where three sets of expectant eyes were on him. "Speaking of rescuing, why don't you bring your drink and come and join me and my friends at our table over there. I bet you can't wait to get away from this bar!"

He watched as she weighed it up for all of half a second before nodding and sliding off the stool. She had nothing to lose by it and couldn't bear to stay where she was a moment longer.

As she stood, he saw that the dress was bang on the knee and hugged her curves in all the right places. _This was not going to be easy..._

"Lead the way my liege!"

Sam smiled at her words and tipped an imaginary hat on his head.

As they headed over, he placed his hand in the small of her back to lead her the right way.

He leaned and whispered in her ear, "You've lost weight!"

"Yeah. The belly had to go. Not healthy and all that. Goodbye tots and hello Zumba! And as a byproduct, hello waist!"

_Hello indeed!_

He shrugged, appreciating the curves that she still had. Mercedes Jones was not born to be skinny. "We at least you've still got all your-"

She shut him off. "Don't even say it!"

"Okay. I'll just think it. The version in my head is way better anyway…" He was busy imagining her shaking those curves to a Zumba beat...

Before she could whack him in response they reached the table and Sam pulled out a chair for her.

"Everyone, this is Mercedes. She's an old friend of mine from high school back in Ohio." He waved his hand across the table. "Mercedes this is everyone."

Ollie stood up and went straight in for the kiss.

Sam chuckled. "So yeah, that's Ollie my best friend and business partner."

Ollie nodded at her. "The pleasure's all mine. Sam didn't do you justice when he used to spend hours going on and on about you and how-" The sentence ended abruptly with a sudden jerk below the table and a sharp look of pain registered on the redhead's face. Sam glared at him and he sat back down in his seat.

Clearing his throat nervously Sam continued. "And this is Angela and Nicole."

"Pleased to meet you all," said Mercedes as she took her seat. "And thanks for letting me join you, rescuing me from that hell which is being a lone female at a bar."

"I've been there," said Nicole, "and I know it's not fun."

"Well my friend's just outside making a call. I'll just text her to say I'm at a table now."

While she was focused on the text, Sam did his best to ignore the questioning glances of the two women at the table and the outright kissy faces being pulled at him by Ollie.

"So what do you do Mercedes?" asked Angela with a friendly smile.

"I teach singing. It combines two of my favorite things, music and children."

"Do you ever perform?"

She nodded. "Shelly's ex has a bar across town. I have a regular slot there and some pretty loyal fans."

Sam was genuinely pleased for her and made a mental note to go and see her sing sometime soon.

"So what about all of you? What do you all do?"

That was Sam's cue to explain who everyone was and fill her in on what had happened over the last couple of years since college, leaving her gasping with amazement at his change in fortune.

**_Mercedes POV_**

Before she knew it, she saw a sheepish looking Shelly standing at the entrance, scouring the tables for her friend. She raised her hand and her friend trotted over.

"Cedes I am sooo sorry to leave you so long-" she looked up, realizing that everyone at the table had stopped talking and was staring up at her.

"Er- hi everyone?"

Sam took the initiative, holding out his hand. "Hi! I'm Sam. Sam Evans."

At the mention of his name Shelly's eyes widened then a smile started to play on her lips. "Oh my god I've heard all about-" She shot a look straight back at Mercedes before registering the same look of suddenly inflicted of pain that Ollie' had minutes earlier. This was clearly the night for hard kicks under the table and bruised calves.

Mercedes spoke up quickly. "And this is Ollie, Sam's friend business partner, and Nicole and Angela work with them."

Shelly smiled. "Hi everyone. I'm the bad friend Shelly! Er - Cedes can I speak to you in for a second… in private?"

She rolled her eyes and followed Shelly to the bathroom. She knew what was coming. She was going to leave her and meet her 'sort-of-ex-boyfriend' so that they could go and have noisy sex in the apartment that the two girls shared. This was becoming a routine and Mercedes didn't like it at all. Now she was going to have to stay out for the next few hours. She started to wonder what movies were on that she could kill some time by seeing.

"Just do what you need to do!" She eventually sighed and put Shelly out of her misery.

Her friend gave her a kiss of thanks on the cheek. "And you make sure you take your own advice too. That Sam is way hotter in the flesh than in the pictures you showed me!" Shelly pulled her into a tight hug. "Thanks for this! I owe you one!"

"You owe me several!"

Mercedes wasn't actually as mad as she knew she should have been. She was glad not to be pulled away from the table of pleasant people. And she definitely wasn't ready to say goodbye to Sam yet.

"Enjoy your evening everyone." Shelly had returned to grab her bag and wrap. She waved at everyone at the table, her eyes resting slightly longer on Sam than the others, before shooting Mercedes a meaningful look and disappearing off into the crowd.

"I hope you guys don't mind," said Mercedes a little sheepishly "If I stay with you a little longer. I'm not quite ready to go home yet."

"Hell girl, the night is young!" said Nicole emphatically.

Ollie sighed. "All dressed up and nowhere to go…" He looked pointedly at Sam.

He had left the sentence open ended and Sam shot him a look of disbelief at his lack of subtlety before turning to Mercedes. "Have you eaten yet?"

"No. But-"

"So why don't you come with us to our function. There's always too much food and there'll be expensive champagne on tap!"

"But it's your work thing! Nobody knows me there and-"

"Look, nobody ever knows anybody at these things. That why we go to them. Anyway, you'll have me to talk to. It'll keep me sane…"

She laughed. "It'll take a lot more than that to keep _you_ sane Sam Evans!"

He blushed and she felt a little bad but he recovered quickly. "You have to Mercy! You're already dressed for the part!"

Mercy! He had just called her Mercy. And now she was having to sit, pretending that her heart hadn't just skipped a beat at the sound of that word coming out of his mouth. He hadn't started using that name for her until after they'd started going out and he'd spent time with her family.

"But if I come, surely it will make an odd number?"

"Don't worry about Ollie. He'd love nothing better than to walk in with a girl on each arm. Sometimes I question just how gay he really is!"

Ollie just grinned and let Angela adjust his bowtie. "So I guess we're taking that as a yes then Mercedes?"

"You'll get a ride back. We all get driven home at the end." It was Nicole's turn to chip in.

It was starting to feel like an ambush. She was so very tempted to say yes but something was holding her back. The fear of the unknown. Not about the party, but about Sam…

And yet…

For the last couple of years she'd been working hard to not always 'play it safe'. This would be a chance to prove that she could relax and have some fun.

"Okay then. You've all convinced me!"

"Hooray!" yelled Ollie. Because only he could possibly come up with and actually use such a word!


	23. Sneaking Out

_At eight thirty precisely, they stepped outside just as two cars pulled up to collect them. Angela and Nicole took the first while Mercedes joined the guys in the second._

_As he bent down to get in the car after her, Ollie whispered in Sam's ear, "You guys had better not go near any flammable chemicals, because the sparks coming off both of you would start an inferno!"_

_This time the grunt of pain from Sam elbowing him in the ribs was so loud that even the driver turned his head. Ollie grinned through the pain. He knew it was worth it. He'd been dying to say it since the moment they had walked back from the bar together._

_Mercedes looked up at him curiously and he guiltily refused to meet her eyes. He was planning on saving that little gem of a line for the best man speech!_

Before long they'd pulled up outside an expensive looking hotel.

"You're not seriously expecting me to walk on that red carpet are you?" Mercedes nervously smoothed down her dress even though it was still looking perfect.

"Come on Mercy. It's only a short piece of carpet covering the stairs. It's not like there's any paparazzi this time."

"PAPARAZZI!"

Sam laughed. There won't be any celebs at this so there's no paparazzi. Now come on, I'm starving and there's a million overpriced canapés just waiting inside for us to fill our bellies with!"

He came round and opened her door in true Sam southern gentleman style and she couldn't help but think back to their prom night.

"Shall we?"

He held out his arm and she took it before they headed up to the entrance. True to form, Ollie followed behind with a lady on each of his arm looking as if this is what he did every day of the week.

"Did I tell you that you look beautiful?" Sam was doing that intense stare again and Mercedes was sure that if he didn't turn his head forward sometime soon, he'd trip over his own feet.

"Not with your actual words Sam. But plenty of times with your eyes!"

He couldn't help but grin at that. Those eyes would always be getting him in trouble with the ladies!

They reached the front and Sam approached the young man in the tux for the guest list.

"Evans plus one."

The young guy marked something off the list and said, "Good evening Mr Evans," before waving them through.

"So now I'm your plus one am I? Who was the original?"

They stopped and turned to see Ollie at the desk, trying to explain his plus two instead of plus one and she laughed. "Okay, now I get it!"

Sam watched for a few moments with an amused smile on his face before finally shouting, "Michael, just let them in!"

"Yes sir! Sorry sir… ladies…" He looked sheepishly at Ollie as he opened the rope for them.

Ollie grinned and shook his head. "Just can't get the staff these days!"

Inside was buzzing. There were people in designer outfits everywhere, chandeliers on the ceiling and almost as many staff handing out drinks and canapés as there were guests.

Mercedes felt like a fish out of water. And looking at Sam she could tell he felt the same. "And I've done this dozens of times now," he confided in her.

He still had that insane ability to read her mind and finish or answer her thoughts.

"So the plan is this," he leaned forward, whispering in her ear in a hushed conspiratorial tone, "We stuff our faces with the most expensive looking canapés we can find, do a circuit of the room once just to be seen, then grab a couple of glasses of champagne each and some dessert and find a quiet corner to hide in for the rest of the night. How does that sound?"

"That sounds like a plan I can work with!"

"Great stuff. Mr Oliver Taylor-Parker is in his element at these events so I get to sit back and let him shine."

"Oliver Taylor-Parker?"

"Oh yes!" Sam put on a mock English accent. "Our friend Ollie's quite the posh double-barrel named toff! He knows all about how to mingle daaahhhhling! You should have seen his house in London my dear. It was nearly as big as the one in the country!"

Mercedes laughed. "I could listen to his accent forever."

Sam rolled his eyes. "I already have done, and honesty, it does wear you out after a bit!"

The next hour was a whirl for Mercedes, meeting and making idle conversation with a million boring people. But at least the canapés were delicious. Only one particular conversation stood out to her.

It was with an older couple who looked to be in their sixties. She was so zoned out by that point that she didn't even catch their names. Before Sam had fully introduced her the man had said, "So you must be the legendary Harmony! I've heard so much about you!"

Sam turned positively scarlet. "Erm – no! This is Mercedes! Harmony is – um – history."

The man's wife took a closer look at Mercedes and smiled. "Oh thank goodness for that! I heard she was truly awful!" She took Mercedes hands in her own. "I hope you're not offended. I'm not wearing my glasses tonight. We didn't mean to assume. It's just our Sam here clearly seems to have a type and she could have been your double!"

Mercedes genuinely didn't know if she was supposed to be offended or not.

"Although I have to say you're so much prettier. You have such beautiful big eyes. Hers were small and squinty and far too close together. Weren't they Jeffery?"

The husband seemed clearly oblivious to both their exchange and Sam's acute discomfort. He leaned forward and placed a hand on Sam's shoulder.

"So how did you get rid of her in the end? That girl was like a sticky piece of gum caught under your shoe!"

Sam looked as if he wished the ground would open up and swallow him while Mercedes was still being apologized to. This was clearly a story she was going to have to get out of him when they were alone.

"She found a new victim out of State and moved to be near him."

"I pity the poor soul!" said Jeffery, in complete seriousness.

Sam grabbed Mercedes by the elbow and started to lead her away.

"Er - we're off to grab some dessert now. Lovely to see you guys. Thanks so much for coming. Catch you later!"

Jefferey and his wife nodded, raising their glasses to them as they left.

Mercedes couldn't help but laugh at Sam's discomfort. "That skeleton just fell right out of the closet didn't it!" she chuckled.

"Mercy I am soooo sorry you had to go through that!"

"It's okay. It was a genuine case of mistaken identity. As long as you promise to give me all the juicy details of the dreadful Harmony later on, I'll forgive you!"

Sam sighed. "Grab something sweet and let's find somewhere to hide. I can't take this anymore!"

Luckily they managed to find a terrace just outside the one of the back entrances and they sat with their glasses of champagne and shared an entire platter of delicious creamy pastry morsels that they'd intercepted directly from the kitchen.

They sat in a comfortable silence, lost in their own thoughts while they enjoyed their stolen dessert.

Sam eventually groaned contentedly and grabbed his belly. "I'm going to have to do an extra hour in the gym tomorrow to work all this off!"

"Still body obsessed I see!"

He smiled. "This temple needs constant maintaining. Besides, gym and running are some of the few times that I can actually get some peace and stop to think. Sometimes life tends to get a little crazy!"

It was the perfect opening and she was determined to take it. "And speaking of crazy, I need to hear all about my body double Harmony!"

Sam buried his face in his hands with a groan. "She was a complete nightmare! As well as being clingy to the point of stalking, she was also a pathological liar. But she wouldn't lie about small things. It would be big things. She would start rumors and make things really difficult for me. Luckily she lied so much and about so many things that it quickly became obvious to people that she had a problem."

"She sounds nuts!"

"More like batshit crazy! While it was all happening it was a crazy time for me. She would show up at my home, the gym and even flew out to Tennessee one weekend while I was visiting my family!"

"Oh wow. That is all kinds of crazy. How did you meet her?"

"At an event like this. Her father was a potential investor."

"So you went for her because you thought daddy could help?"

"No!" He looked disappointed that Mercedes would even think that of him before he noticed the mischievous look in her eye. He started to smile but then his face turned serious. "I went for her because she reminded me of you."

"What? Batshit crazy?"

This time he saw the smile and nudged her. "Nah. Jeffery's wife was right. I do have a type. She was a less pretty version of you. And the more I got to know her the uglier she became whereas the more I get to see you the more beautiful you've become."

Mercedes shivered. She had no idea if it was his words or the fact that she was sitting outside in just cap sleeves.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry! You must be freezing out here!" Sam quickly took off his jacket and wrapped it around her. She instantly felt his body warmth from inside the lining and it felt like an embrace.

The silence returned. Sam drank the dregs from his champagne glass before carefully lifting her hair out from underneath the jacket so that it could flow down her back again, just the way he liked it. Without realizing it her body moved towards his almost touch.

"So what about you Mercy? Is there anyone special? I couldn't help noticing that you said and your friend were supposed to be on a man free night tonight!

She thought carefully about her answer. She didn't want to sound pathetic for the lack of love interest in her life. "There was someone a few months ago. But, it didn't get far or last long. I guess it just wasn't right. He was a nice guy but – there was no spark." The truth was they hadn't got past two dates. But what she was thinking was he wasn't you Sam!

Sam nodded, thinking back to Ollie's comment as they climbed into the car earlier in the evening.

"I guess we've screwed up each other's love lives haven't we!"

She nodded. "I guess so," she said quietly.

The silence was back, but this time it was heavy and imposing.

Sam finally dragged himself far enough from his thoughts to change the subject.

"So do you see any of the guys from Glee?"

"Not as many as I'd like…"

And so their conversation resumed on much lighter subjects until Sam's phone buzzed. He read the text then quickly jumped to his feet. "Cedes it's 1am! That was Ollie texting. The function finished at 12.30!"

Mercedes leapt to her feet before immediately regretting it. Champagne and bubbles… She wasn't drunk but _was _definitely a teeny bit giddy for more than one reason. "Oh no! My purse and phone are in the cloakroom. I hope it's still open!"

Sam grabbed her by the hand and they ran back through the now empty ballroom, startling a couple of the housekeeping staff by their sudden appearance.

Luckily the reception staff had access to the cloakroom and Mercedes could retrieve her things. "My door keys are in here," she said, quickly rooting for her phone, "I would have been stuck if I couldn't get this back."

The concierge led them to a waiting cab and they headed home. It turned Sam had recently moved into an apartment around ten minutes from her, with his office and the bar located halfway between them. How had they not bumped into each other before?

Sam asked the cab driver to wait as he walked her to the front door of her apartment block.

Again the feeling of prom night dejavu…

"Thanks for tonight!" Mercedes looked so beautiful under the light by her front door.

"I didn't do anything!" That strong urge to kiss her was back all over again.

"No seriously. You saved me. Literally. Thank you."

He bent his head to give her a peck on the cheek. But somehow it went wrong, both of their heads moved at the same time and he caught half of her mouth by accident.

"Shit! I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to lunge at you like that-"

"It's ok." She smiled and touched his cheek. "Brings a whole new definition to the phrase 'the kiss that missed'!"

"It sure does." This shouldn't be awkward but…

The cab was still waiting and Mercedes had made no move to put the key into the door.

Just like all those years ago in a park in this selfsame city, Sam Evans decided to take a chance. "What are you doing tomorrow?" His hands were back in the safety of his pockets where no damage could be done to their fledgling new relationship. What he really wanted to do was to slip them around her waist and maybe roam downwards a little...

"I'm meeting a couple of girls from work in the evening…"

He wasn't going to give up that easily. Not after waiting all these years for this moment! "So you're free for lunch?"

She nodded. He could have sworn she even looked relieved at the suggestion.

"Twelve thirty? Tomorrow? Right here on the steps?"

Again she nodded. "It's a da- I mean okay!"

"Now get inside Mercy. I'm going to watch from the cab, and we won't pull off until I see your light come on and you waving at me from the window!"

"Yes daddy!" He scoffed at her attitude as she quickly ran inside and into her apartment. It was all quiet. Clearly Shelly and her boyfriend had tired themselves out.

She ran to the lounge window and waved at the cab. She stayed waving until it pulled around the corner and out of sight.

Then, and only then did she allow her knees to weaken as she slid to the floor.

When Sam had leaned down to kiss her cheek something had happened. He didn't miss. It was _she _who had moved. Maybe it was the champagne. She didn't know and she didn't care.

And most of all she didn't regret it at all…

She'd let Sam take the blame for the lunge because knowing him he probably had gone for it. But what he didn't know is that she probably would have let him. For a girl who didn't kiss on the first date, this was a big step. Especially considering this wasn't even a date. He'd literally picked her up at the bar! But fate works in mysterious ways, and who was she to judge. All she was sure about was this:

For the first time in a long time, Mercedes Jones knew exactly what and who she wanted. And she was determined that she wasn't going to mess it up this time!

* * *

_**I forgot how damn long this story was so I'll have to finish it tomorrow at work.**_


	24. Saturday Lunch

Chapter 24: Seven Days

Saturday

Sam sat on the edge of his bed. Despite the late night he'd woken up bright and early. The champagne had left no ill effects and his body was full of adrenaline.

He quickly showered and grabbed his gym bag. There was a private gym in the basement of his apartment building and he was there almost every day.

As he set the incline on the treadmill and started to run, he allowed his mind to wander back to the night before. Now he _definitely_ believed in miracles. He'd often wondered how he would go about trying to find Mercedes, often deep down fearing that when he did she would already be married to someone she'd met in college complete with kids in tow. The heartbreak of knowing he was too late would be too much to bear. But this time… This time she'd walked right back into his life all on her own.

He wiped a bead of sweat from his brow and upped the pace on the machine. Those sweet creamy pastries had been his undoing! Much in same the way that Mercedes Jones was his undoing. He'd known, right there, sitting up at the bar that this was his one shot. And he _had _to get this right. He'd spent far too long looking for her in other people, and now the real thing was here, he would be a fool to waste the second chance.

But how should he play this? She definitely wasn't actively discouraging him. He'd seen her do it at the bar and there would be no doubting if she wanted rid of him. He was tempted to even go as far as to say that she'd actually flirted a little with him. And that attempt at a goodnight kiss had stayed with him for the entire journey home. Her lips were as soft and inviting as he had remembered and he sure as hell had found it hard to act like a gentleman and not go back for a second helping.

No, he had to do things properly and his plan of action was simple. He would play it by ear and see how things went over lunch.

Lunch! He looked up at the time. It was already 11.30 and he hadn't even done any weights yet! They would have to wait until tomorrow.

He grabbed his towel and headed back to his apartment for another shower where he tried and failed not to think about Mercedes. His thoughts dwelled on the fact that there was more than enough room in his shower for the both of them…

Stop it Sam! The last thing he needed to do was run before he could walk. In all their conversation last night he'd forgotten one of the basics. To get her number! A simple rookie mistake! He knew that it had changed at some point during college and he needed to ask her for it again. But smoothly. Not that it mattered so much today. Because he knew where she lived. And he planned to be standing outside her door early.

As he lathered his hair and let the hot jetted water pummel his muscular shoulders, he found himself singing:

_I have often walked Down the street before,  
But the pavement always Stayed beneath my feet before.  
All at once am I Several stories high,  
Knowing I'm on the street where you live._

Sam laughed as he caught himself. He was singing a freaking showtune! He internally cursed Kurt for making him sit and watch classic musicals while he was at his lowest of lows with nowhere else to go. And yet here he was, singing the song that most appropriately matched his mood.

Worse still, he even remembered the words!

Dressing was easy. This was just lunch so jeans and a shirt would be fine. He grabbed a teal Yves Saint Lauren shirt that he knew made his eyes stand out.

Not that he was out to seduce or anything. This was just a lunch. As friends. One of whom had a far more than friendly interest in the other…

By twelve fifteen he was already on her street, the song pounding even louder through his brain. He had to fight the urge to run up to one of the streetlamps and swing around it like Gene Kelly.

What was wrong with him? Surely it was crazy to be this stupid over a girl? Ollie had been pumping him for information but he was playing his cards close to his chest with this. He didn't want to do anything to jinx the chemistry or spook Mercedes.

He thrust his hands in his pockets and made his way to her apartment building. Twelve twenty. Time was dragging.

He decided to pace a little bit. He was probably looking suspicious standing around.

_People stop and stare They don't bother me,  
For there's nowhere else on earth That I would rather be.  
Let the time go by, I won't care if I  
Can be here on the street where you live._

Oh damn that stupid song!

He looked at bells by the door and realized that he didn't even know what number she lived in and there was no name on any of the bells. He looked up at the window that she'd waved from to see if he could calculate which one she might be by the floor but that didn't work either.

Twelve twenty four. He shouldn't have been so early. For all he knew she could have a hangover and still be asleep.

Or she could be hiding inside, regretting spending time with him last night and pretending not to be in, hoping that he'd eventually go away!

He seriously hoped that it wouldn't be the latter.

Twelve twenty six. The door opened and there she stood. Looking radiant as ever… In beautifully form fitting blue jeans and a teal satin shirt.

After precisely three seconds of looking at what the other was wearing they simultaneously broke into laughter.

"Great minds!"

"Absolutely!"

Whatever ice he had worried there may have been was immediately broken.

"So where are we going?" Mercedes' hair was in a loose ponytail and Sam was distracted by the way that she had pulled it forward so that it fell over her shoulder. In his excitement he hadn't actually thought of where they might be going.

"There's a bunch of different cafes just around the corner. I thought maybe we could walk and decide what takes our fancy. Or maybe there's somewhere you want to suggest?"

"Nope, I'm happy just to walk."

"Cool."

They fell into easy conversation and walked further than they'd anticipated before settling for a small French café that specialized in Moules Mariniere. They sat outside at a small table with red and white checked tablecloth.

"Trust me on this!" said Sam as Mercedes looked suspiciously at the large fragrant steaming bowl of mussels that was set in front of her.

"I'm not so sure…"

Sam sighed, broke a piece of his baguette, dipped it in the rich sauce and put it in front of her lips. She immediately took it into her mouth, lips slightly brushing his fingers.

He groaned internally at the sensation. Not a clever move. You're supposed to be being the friend. That just crossed the line. That was HOT!

She closed her eyes and moaned with pleasure at the tasty sauce and Sam cursed himself for wearing jeans that were so well fitted. Then she opened her eyes, embarrassed at what she had just done and said "Wow! That was really good. _Very_ garlicy!"

Sam grinned. "Precisely! That's why we're both having exactly the same thing!"

She chuckled and started on her fries. "I bet you're now going to say something like 'I first ate this while we traveled through Paris…'"

He joined in the chuckle. "Actually, it was Belgium to be precise!"

"You know I got all your postcards. Thank you for sending them to my parent's home. It was a great idea."

"I just wanted to let you know I hadn't forgotten what you asked me in Tennessee. I didn't have your details but I figured they would keep them safe for you."

Silence suddenly fell as they both travelled back in time to that meeting and that conversation on the way back to the hotel. It was all done and dusted now. Surely there was no need to revisit it?

Mercedes was the first to break the silence. "So tell me, which was your favorite city in Europe and why?"

They spoke at length about Sam and Ollie's travels, the places they'd seen and some of the incredibly stupid things they had done. It had undoubtedly been the best three months of his life and he was happy to share it with her.

Time flew by and regretfully it was suddenly time for Mercedes to head back to get ready for her evening. The walk back to her apartment seemed significantly faster than the walk away from it despite the fact that both their steps seemed to become smaller and smaller as they approached her block. As they reached the corner of her street, he remembered what he'd meant to ask.

"Er- so you had to change your number when you were in college?" Despite having spoken to her easily all afternoon, there was no hiding the sudden blush that made itself clearly visible on his features.

Mercedes threw back her head and laughed at his clear discomfort. "Sam Evans, I defended you at McKinley when people said you had no game. Please don't prove me wrong. If you want my number you just have to ask."

"So can I?"

"Can you what?"

"Can I have it?"

"Can you have what?" She was determined to make this as difficult for him as possible.

"Can I have your number?"

They were both laughing at this point.

"Can you have my number _what_?"

Now she was really pushing it. "Can I have your number _please Mercy_?"

"Of course you can Sam. But I'm pretty sure that should have been 'may I' rather than 'can I'!"

Sam made an action like he was going to lurch forward and throttle her and she ducked away quickly, laughing as she fished her phone out of her bag.

When they were back at her door Sam sighed. "So are you going to tell me which of these bells is yours?"

She grinned and shook her head.

"Why not?"

"Because you picked me up in a bar less than twenty four hours ago! A girl's got to keep _some_ element of mystery! Besides, you now have my number so you've already done better than all the other poor suckers who tried it on last night."

"Yay! Thanks for making me feel cheap and sleazy."

Mercedes laughed then looked regretful. "Look Sam, I really have to go in now." She bit her lip and grinned mischievously before holding out her arms. "Hug it out?"

Sam matched her grin and flung himself into her arms, knowing that she was using his words. The embrace felt great and lasted longer than was strictly necessary. He was the first to reluctantly pull away so that he could look into her eyes and knew that he wasn't going to be happy until he knew for sure when he was next going to be seeing her again.

"So… Ollie's having a small barbeque on his roof tomorrow afternoon and he says you're invited. I'm pretty sure that should take us over the twenty four hour mark…"

Her grin matched his own and she didn't even bother to pretend that she was going to have to think about it. "So what time are you planning on picking me up…?"

* * *

**_Definitely the last one of the night!_**


	25. Rapid Progress

**Sunday**

Mercedes couldn't get over how amazing Ollie's apartment was. Apparently he'd inherited a shedload of money after the death of his last remaining grandparent just weeks after they'd returned from Europe trip, and he had used part of it to buy a swanky New York pad. Based on the sheer size of the place, the money clearly went extremely far!

"Now you know why I prefer to hang out at Ollie's rather than my place," Sam had whispered in her ear as she'd done the grand tour, marveling at the sheer amount of space he had for New York and the mod cons which were probably never used.

Ollie had scooped her up into a tight embrace the moment they'd walked into the apartment as if she was a close relative. "You look stunning!" he said, with genuine appreciation in his eyes.

Sam had said exactly the same thing when he'd seen her. She was wearing a pink and white striped naval style halter dress, with a wide white belt which cinched her proportionally small waist even smaller making her the amazing hourglass look like something out of a 1950s cartoon. It was paired with a simple pair of mid heeled white strappy sandals. He'd barely been able to keep his tongue in his mouth and his eyes in his head when he saw her. Losing the belly and gaining the waist had made her curves stand out even more and she knew how to work the look. Out with the bright, the bold and the animal print, and in with the soft feminine tailoring. Kurt had practically fallen to his knees and praised the lord when he first saw her new wardrobe.

The barbeque was an extremely relaxed affair. It was just the three of them plus Ollie's cousin Jo and Ollie's boyfriend Chris. Jo was extremely pretty with strawberry blond hair and long legs. She was only seventeen and completely in awe of the city. It was her first visit to the States was splitting her time between staying with Ollie and staying with the family of a school friend.

Being in the penthouse apartment meant that there was plenty of space to do the grill without disturbing anyone. They sat outside, enjoying the weather, eating delicious food and having pleasant and relaxed conversation. Mercedes loved having the opportunity to get to know Ollie better, seeing as he was such an important person in Sam's life. The more she spoke to him the more she liked him and understood why their friendship could be so strong. Wine was drunk by all except Jo who scowled into her glass of sparkling cider, muttering that if this was home it would be more alcoholic than beer but obediently drinking it anyway.

As the sun set they moved inside, sitting on the sofa watching comedies on the obscenely large TV and relaxing. Sam had his arm strewn over the back of her seat and she contentedly smiled to herself. It felt as if this was a family gathering in someone's home. Clearly Ollie had, as well as came from, significant wealth, something even Sam was unaware of until they went to college. He was glad he didn't know because he didn't want his friendship to be attributed to bad motives.

Sadly the night ended too soon and this time, the goodbye hug at her door was distinctly unsatisfying despite the fact that it lingered unnecessarily and she went inside with the promise that Sam would text her when he got home safely.

* * *

**Monday**

Sam walked into his office to the unexpected sight of Ollie sat in his chair with his feet on his desk and his arms behind his head. He double checked the door just to make sure it said Samuel Evans and it did. So what was his friend playing at?

"What are you doing in here?"

Ollie simply smiled and tossed Sam's diary over to him. "I've got Angela to schedule us a little meeting. Shut the door!"

Sam was so thrown by this that he actually did as he was told before turning to Ollie and saying, "Get the fuck out of my expensive ergonomic chair!"

Ollie grinned and didn't move an inch. He indicated to the chair on the opposite side of the table. "Please, have a seat!"

Sam glared but knew enough of Ollie's moods to know that sometimes it's faster to get things over with by just playing along. He plopped down in the chair and defiantly also put his own feet on the table.

This was met with a shrug by Ollie. "I don't care. It's your desk anyway!"

Sam really wasn't in the mood for games. "Just tell me what this is all about."

"I regret to have to say this, but I've brought you here this morning to let you know that I'm _bitterly_ disappointed in you my friend. And if you have to ask me what this is about, then maybe you're not quite the man I thought you were!"

Sam _did_ know what he was talking about. "Look! I don't need you to interfere-"

"I'm not here to interfere. I'm just here in the role of best friend to slap the shit out of you and tell you to 'wake up and smell the fucking coffee'!" He held out his hands, "You like her, she likes you… So what gives? Why are you dancing round this like a bloody namby pamby?"

"Namby… WHAT?"

"Not relevant. You spend years pining after this girl and now you have her right where you want her, you need to 'seize the day'! Otherwise you'll be living with a lifetime of regret. And I swear I've had nearly seven years of your Mercedes 'if only' shit. I don't think I could take another day of it. You need to go ahead and sort this. ASAP!"

Sam simply shook his head grinning, hating himself for not being able to come up with a reply fast enough and knowing that only Ollie was the only person on this planet who would be able to come up with such an insulting speech like that without tasting his fist.

"And that," Ollie swung his legs down from the table, "concludes our meeting for today."

By this point, Sam was actually laughing.

"Next up on the agenda - a decent cup of tea! I wonder where Angela's got to…" Ollie had risen from his chair and started to cross the room. He came up behind Sam's chair and pulled him into something which was a cross between a one armed hug and a choke hold bringing his face right up to his ear. "You know I only say these things because I bloody love you." He gave Sam a sloppy kiss on the cheek and moved his arm from the hold to slap him lightly across the head. "Now get to it man! Count this as an official warning!"

Sam wiped his friend's slobber from his cheek and laughed so hard that he struggled to breathe.

But later that day, Ollie's words were still playing through his mind. He stared at his phone. He hadn't heard from Mercedes all day and he missed her after they'd ended up spending so much of the weekend together. He started to send a friendly text then changed his mind, hitting the 'call' button before his confidence departed.

"Hello?" She must have had the phone in her hand because it had barely registered a complete ring.

"Hey!"

"Hey yourself." Okay so this conversation was going well…

"How are you doing?"

"I'm fine." Her voice sounded very 'breathy' down the phone and it was seriously sexy.

"That's good."

"So why are you calling."

"Oh-" It would have been good to have thought this through before hitting dial… "I just wanted to see how your day was."

"My day?"

"Yeah."

"But I already told you yesterday all about what I was going to be doing today."

"Yeah, and now I want to hear how it all went."

"You're _that_ interested in my boring teaching job?"

"Not really. I called to hear the sound of your voice and I figured I'd get to sit back and enjoy it while you were telling me about your day." He bit his bottom lip. Too much flirtation too soon?

"Oh." There was a pause. "Okay so what do you want to know…"

They stayed talking on the phone for the next two hours.

Because contrary to popular belief, Samuel Evans finally did develop a certain little something called 'game'…

* * *

**Tuesday**

Mercedes spent the day at work at the point of distraction. She and Sam had spoken about pretty mundane things while on the phone to each other the night before. So why did it still leave her feeling so hot and bothered? Maybe it had something to do with the resonance of his deep voice or the way that he lazily drew out some of his vowels when he was relaxed. It may even have been the goofy impressions that made him sound just like he did when he was a teenager. Whatever it was, it had left her disproportionately turned on during and after the conversation.

And now she couldn't help feeling that the ball was back in her court. In some ways she was as old fashioned as Sam and she definitely believed that it should be the man that does the pursuing. But as a wise friend had once told her, there is no harm in 'hurrying him up' if you feel it's necessary. And she felt it was definitely getting necessary.

Sam Evans totally made her hot under the collar. But not only that, she still felt that old easiness with him. She could be relaxed, have a laugh, not try too hard, and be real. He was exactly what she needed in her life. But she was also starting to get impatient. She needed to hurry this along. She needed to see him again and didn't want to have to wait until the weekend.

She pulled out her phone and hurriedly sent out a couple of text messages. It was time to start calling in favors from Shelly…

Later that evening, Sam picked up the phone after less than one ring. "Hey Mercy!"

"Hey yourself!"

They both started laughing.

"So I guess you missed the sound of my voice?" Sam was on a full charm offensive tonight.

"Hmmmm…" She pretended to think. "…Nah!"

"How could you?" Sam's voice was full of mock offence and she could hear that he was smiling.

"Actually, I was just calling to let you know that I've got a last minute gig singing tomorrow night, just in case you wanted to come…"

"Hell yeah! Just tell me where and when…"

* * *

**Wednesday**

Sam and Ollie walked into the Oscar's Bar. It was larger than they'd expected but heaving with people considering it was only Wednesday. The atmosphere was electric and it was so loud inside from the general chatter that they could barely hear themselves speak. Shelly spotted them immediately and pulled them over to a table at the front.

"This is my boyfriend Kyle." Sam shook his hand. Kyle was nothing like he'd expected. He was short and extremely skinny with shoulder length hair dyed jet black and big brown eyes hidden behind thick rimmed glasses. All in all he looked like one of the computer geeks who rarely saw sunlight that Sam dealt with on a daily basis. Shelly, on the other hand, had a strong resemblance to a tall version of Joy from My Name Is Earl, right down to the accent. But the way she sat on his lap and stared into his eyes showed that she wouldn't have Kyle any other way.

"So where's Mercy?"

Shelly and Ollie looked at him and then at each other, then grinned.

"She's round the back. She's about to go on stage so don't worry you'll see her soon enough."

Soon enough was _not_ soon enough as far as Sam was concerned but his impatience was soon rewarded. A man roughly in his forties with thick eyebrows, a greying beard and a gingham shirt made his way onto the stage.

"Good evening all, I'm Oscar and welcome to my place!"

The crowd cheered and went wild. Shelly waved and whooped the loudest from Kyle's lap, and all Sam could think of, was that apparently Oscar was her ex. He looked more like her dad!

"Ladies and gentlemen you're in for a special treat tonight. One of our favorite singers and a good personal friend of mine has graced us with her presence tonight. Put your hands together for the sensational _Miss Mercedes Jones_!"

The crowd went wild as she stepped out on stage, all smiles. She was wearing a shiny purple glitter shift dress that fell a couple of inches above the knee. She met Oscar as he walked off stage and he kissed her warmly on the cheek, gently patting her back.

She made her way to the microphone at the center of the stage. "Good evening everyone!"

The crowd shouted her name and she giggled. The sound went straight inside Sam's jeans.

"Now before I start, I have a couple of special friends in the audience who are here for the first time. Sam and Ollie, I want to extend you a warm Oscar's welcome I hope you enjoy what we do here tonight!"

She then looked over to the band and mouthed something to them.

"Ok, so for my first song tonight, I'm going to need a little backup, so Shelly and Allie, I need you to get up here with me!"

Shelly squealed and made her way up to the stage, grabbing the hand of a beautiful mixed race girl of a similar age with tight curly hair as she went up. The three girls embraced on stage to more whoops from the audience before the two girls set up another microphone slightly behind and to the side of Mercedes.

"Ladies and gentlemen, as a shout out to my friend Ollie who is all the way from England, I'm going to sing a song from a British band that played here recently. Any other Brits in the house?"

There were a couple of whoops at the back.

Ollie leapt to his feet cheering, pumping his fist in the direction of the others and the rest of the crowd joined him.

She laughed at his unreserved antics which was in sharp contrast to his formal sounding voice before nodding to the band for them to start.

_Watcha drinking? Rum or whiskey? Now won'tcha have a double with me?  
I'm sorry I'm a little late, I got your message by the way  
I'm calling in sick today So let's go out for old time's sake_

_I'll never forget you, They said we'd never make it  
My sweet joy, always remember me_

_We were mysterious, And you were always wearing black  
I was so serious, You know my boyfriend's mother nearly had a heart attack_

_I'm sorry I'm a little late, You know the stripes on a tiger Are hard to change  
I know this world feels like an empty stage, I wouldn't change a thing  
So glad you're back again_

Shelly and Allie came into their own with their backing vocals on the chorus.

_I'll never forget, you they said we'd never make it  
My sweet joy Always remember me  
I'll never forget you, at times we couldn't shake it  
You're my joy Always remember me_

Her eyes scoured the audience and when they met Sam's she held the gaze, smiling softly although the tone of the music and her voice grew sad.

_We just got swallowed up,  
you know I didn't forget you, We just got swallowed up…  
Well, we just got swallowed up but you love that I didn't forget you,  
We just got swallowed up By the whole damn world…_

To his mind, even though she was at a distance, he could have sworn he saw her eyes starting to well up but then the tempo changed again and the radiant smile returned.

_Watcha thinking? Ha ha ha… Did you miss me?  
I borrowed your silver boots Now if you'd just let me Give them back to you!_

_I'll never forget you, they said we'd never make it  
My sweet joy Always remember meI'll never forget you Although at times we couldn't shake it You're my joy Always remember me_

_Don't you know that you're my joy, always remember me  
Don't you know that you're my joy, always remember me_

Sam sat in awe. The words had touched a nerve. That song definitely wasn't just for Ollie. There were parts specifically for him. He just needed to pull his finger out and act on it!

The rest of the night passed in a blur. Mercedes gave 110% in her performance, taking requests from the audience and dancing round the stage like Beyonce.

Despite enjoying the show, Sam couldn't help but wonder why Shelly and Ollie suddenly kept whispering to each other in an animated manner. Then the two disappeared for the length of two songs. Sam looked questioningly at Kyle who just shrugged and continued enjoying the music.

The two returned, arm in arm looking thick as thieves. They shot him a smug look before avoiding any further eye contact. He had no idea what they'd just been up to, but the mischievous twinkle that had appeared in his friend's eye meant that it could only be something very very bad…

Mercedes sang her last song and Oscar came on stage to thank her. But instead of leaving the stage with her, he stayed with the microphone.

"Er- ladies and gentlemen, I know it's not open mike night but Shelly's made a special request. It seems that our friend from England wants to sing us a traditional English song! So to end our night, let's give it up of Ollie!"

_What the FUCK!_

The crowd were a little unsure what a traditional English song was, but were sufficiently inebriated to cheer anyway. Ollie walked on stage with his hands in the air, lapping up all the cheers like the complete attention whore that he was and whipping up the crowd. Shelly followed him on and quickly whispered something to the band.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to take a moment to thank you for allowing me on your stage tonight. First of all, I think we should give another big hand to Mercedes for her cracking performance tonight." Sam narrowed his eyes and shook his head. He could have sworn Ollie was putting on his accent stronger for effect. "And now, with the help of the gorgeous Shelly here, I'd like to sing a song by one of the greatest groups of all time. _The Beatles!_"

A cheer went up in the room.

"I don't need to do any dedications for this as the words are pretty self-explanatory." He pointedly looked at Sam before turning to Shelly who nodded to the band.

(A/N - Words in bold italic are sung Ollie and Shelly. Normal italic is Ollie alone.)

The drums hit and they were straight into the song:

Ollie and Shelly stood either side of the microphone grinning wildly at each other.

**_She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah  
She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah_**

Sam could not believe what he was hearing! There would be blood tonight. And it will all belong to his _former_ best friend…

_You think you lost your love, Well I saw her yesterday.  
It's you she's thinking of And she told me what to say.  
She says she loves you And you know that can't be bad.  
Yes, she loves you And you know you should be glad.__**  
Ooooh!**_

They put their heads together and shook them wildly on the 'ooooh' and the crowd went wild and joined in!

_She said you were to know, That she almost lost her mind.  
And now she says she knows You're not the hurting kind.  
She says she loves you And you know that can't be bad.  
Yes, she loves you And you know you should be glad.  
__**Ooooh!**_

**_She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah  
And with a love like that You know you should be glad._**

_And now it's up to you, I think it's only fair, Pride can hurt you, too, Apologize to her  
Because she loves you And you know that can't be bad.  
Yes, she loves you And you know you should be glad.  
__**Ooooh!**_

Ollie raised his hand and whipped up the whole audience to sing with them.

**_She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah  
And with a love like that You know you should be glad_**

It was deafening. The sang the chorus over and over with the whole audience is singing along. Ollie jumped up and down on stage like a mad person while Sam sat with his head in his hands, begging the ground to open up and swallow him. Subtlety had never been his friend's strongest quality and tonight he was simply reveling in his shamelessness.

The instigators of the heinous crime against Sam's love life ran off the stage together, not to be seen for the rest of the evening, leaving Sam to find Mercedes and get a cab.

"You were amazing tonight!"

"Thanks."

It was beyond uncomfortable. Mercedes seemed as angry with Shelly as he was with Ollie.

"Look I'm so sorry for-"

"Yeah I know. It wasn't you. I'm mad at Shelly for her part in it too!"

They continued the journey in silence right up to her front door.

Mercedes fumbled for her keys and he couldn't help but notice the little snow cone that was among the items attached to the chain.

Sit was the sign that he needed. There'd been lots of other signs but this was the one that told him he had to put a stop to this craziness right now. He braced himself and took a deep breath. "Look Mercy, I don't think this is going to work."

"What's not going to work?" Her head had snapped back towards him and he had her full attention now.

"This!" he waved his index finger between the two of them. "Us. Being friends…"

Mercedes suddenly bit her bottom lip and face reflected an equal balance of hurt and anger but her eyes stayed on his, unblinking, allowing him to finish before she launched into him.

Suddenly he was back in the park on his first ever trip to New York for Nationals. The words didn't come out properly then either. Mercedes tended to have that effect on him.

"What I'm trying to say is… erm… that _they_, I mean our friends they were… no… that _I'm_…"

Explaining wasn't going to work. He was just going to have to show her.

In one swift movement he reached behind her, cradling the back of her head while he brought his lips down onto hers just like he'd wanted to do from the moment he'd first laid eyes on her in the bar. Caught off guard, she tipped backwards, her full weight falling against the front door and dragging Sam to also fall against the length of her body. But the kiss didn't break. Now that she had realized what was happening her hands had gone straight up into his hair, running it through her fingers before making their way down to his back. She gently nibbled at his bottom the way that he always used to so that he would open his mouth and kiss her fully and completely. They would have stayed like that if it hadn't been for the need of a necessary thing like air.

Their lips broke apart but not their eyes.

She was breathing hard. "What were you saying?"

"I can't remember."

"Ah well…" she shrugged and pulled him down for another kiss, this one even more frenzied than the first. She moaned into his mouth and he died a little. Needing air again he broke the lip kiss but not the body contact, this time tracing kisses along her jawline towards her neck. She whimpered and her hands were under his jacket and against his firm chest. His had slipped down, cupping his most favorite part of her anatomy, that glorious ass of hers.

"Sam…"

"Hmmmm…" It was harder to kiss her when she was trying to talk. And he definitely wasn't ready to stop kissing her just yet. Each kiss sparked rather than quenched his desire…

"Sam!" She pushed him away gently.

"What's wrong?"

"_This!_"

"What's wrong with this?" He was busy looking at her swollen lips and glazed eyes from the kisses and was not really hearing what she was saying and knowing his face would be reflecting the same amount of desire as hers.

"SAM!"

He finally snapped out of it and took a step back. Mercedes was still regaining her breath and staring at his lips like she wanted him to put them right back where they'd just been. "It's a school night. And you still have a taxi waiting…"

_Dammit she was right!_

He turned and saw the driver craning his next to look at them. He leaned towards her again. "Just one more kiss… to say goodnight."

She shook her head as if doing something that gave great pain. "It took every ounce of my willpower to push you off me the first time. I don't think I can do it again and keep you this side of the front door!"

"You don't have to-"

"_Sam!_"

"Yeah I know, sorry."

"Besides, I don't kiss on the first date."

"We kissed on our first date…"

"Yeah but that was the first 'official' date. That was different. This time we haven't officially been on a da…"

He leaned in so close he was nearly kissing her again. "Pick you up Friday at six. Wear a dress."

His proximity had rendered her speechless and she simply nodded.

He finally understood why it had taken every ounce of her willpower to break that kiss. It took every ounce of his not to kiss her again, and to back away slowly. "Okay you need to get inside before you break me. Wave at me from the window."

She opened the door and he took two steps back. He hadn't meant to say anything but the words bust out of him like a fountain. "Our friends were spot on with about the way we feel about each other!" He knew what he was doing, without saying the words he told her that he loved her and that he knew she loved him too.

Mercedes froze, pausing half way through the door before turning. "Our friends obviously know us well!"

_She agreed! _Sam's face broke into the widest smile humanly possible and his heart nearly beat out of his chest as she blew him a kiss.

"Oh and Sam? It's apartment seven."

The door closed and he did a body roll and a Michael Jackson style spin, pumping his fist into the air in a silent 'yeah', before running back to the waiting taxi where the amused driver pretended that he hadn't been watching the whole scene unfold with interest.

By the time he'd slid into the back seat he already had his phone out. She answered in one ring and he didn't even bother with a greeting. "You know that thing they sang about..." He knew what he wanted to say but suddenly he lacked the confidence.

There was a pause and he heard her taking a deep intake of breath. "They couldn't have chosen a more perfectly fitting song Sam."

His heart leaped. "Well they were right. I _am _glad. And I guess... If you say the song was perfectly fitting then I guess your feelings are... the same as mine..."

Again the pause before her quiet reply, "I was hoping that might be the case..."

Sam sank back into the seat and closed his eyes as he let the full impact of their words wash over him. _She loved him! And he'd just told her had he loved her!_

Okay so they hadn't actually said the words but the meaning was clear. If pulling away from their kiss and leaving her at the doorstep was hard, then not asking the cab driver to turn the car round and take him straight back was him somehow achieving the impossible. Instead he settled for keeping her sensual voice on the phone. It may have been a school night but that didn't stop them from falling asleep in their own beds in the early hours of the morning with the call still connected...

* * *

_**Song references: **_

_**On The Street Where You Live is from My Fair Lady.**_

_**Mercedes sang Never Forget You by the Noisettes and of course, the lovely Ollie sang She Loves You by The Beatles**_


	26. Friday

_**This was all part of one long chapter which was originally called Seven Days but it's broken up now so...**_

* * *

**Thursday**

Sam was too happy to be too mad at Ollie. Although as punishment for his friend's misdeeds, he refused to give any details other than that they had kissed…

* * *

**Friday**

The dress was purple and the heels were silver. Her hair was down with a purple flower hair slide above her right ear. She'd worn strawberry lip gloss especially for the occasion but it hadn't lasted long. The moment he'd laid eyes on her, Sam had taken the time to make her painfully aware that he _very_ much appreciated her outfit.

He'd pressed the buzzer to apartment seven at six precisely and she'd run down the stairs to meet him having spent most of the afternoon after school cleaning the apartment and getting ready. He wore chinos with a blue button down shirt and carried flowers. The poor blooms barely survived being crushed between their two bodies as they kissed their hello and she hated leaving him for the whole minute that it took to take the flowers upstairs and rest them on the side before leaving the apartment.

But before she knew it she was sat in a steak restaurant with a 'surf and turf' being set before her by the waiter. He'd told her that the items of their meal held special significance for them but as she looked she struggled to work out what it was. She cast Sam several questioning glances but he just smiled annoyingly. Finally he decided to put her out of her misery. "Don't you remember?"

Of course she didn't! She'd wracked her brain for the entire length of time it had taken for their food to arrive but still had no clue about what he was on about.

"I can't believe you don't remember! The Lima bean? First day of school after we got back from New York? We were sitting outside in your car and I was upset because I didn't have the money to even buy you coffee. And you said…"

It all suddenly came flooding back like it was yesterday. "I said 'Consider it a loan. When you have money I expect you to take me out on lots dates and pay for them'!" She shook her head in amazement, "I can't believe I said that! It all seems so prophetic now!

"And there's more. Do you remember what were you going to order?"

"Steak. And lob- oh I get it!"

"Finally!" He leaned back smugly in his seat and sipped his wine.

She glared at him through smile crinkled eyes. "Sam Evans, you're such a dork!"

"And proud of it! But I'm not just any dork, I'm a dork who _listens_!"

"Be careful Sam. Anything you do say can and may be unjustly used against you in the future!"

The lazy smile broadened. "So you see us with a future then?"

To hide her nerves and the sudden palpitations of her heart she threw one of her fries at him which landed squarely in the middle of his forehead, then looked sheepishly away from the waiter who had caught the whole move and cast her a disapproving look.

The meal continued with laughter and wine. The years apart melted into nothing as they fell right back into the closeness that they'd shared once before, their hands joined on top of the table like young lovers.

"What I don't understand, is how we managed to completely lose touch!"

"I know! It took me all my courage just to ask if we could stay friends only for it to fizzle out." Sam squeezed her fingers and she stroked the back of his hand with her thumb.

"I know," she smiled at him sadly, "I blame social media and a stupid bitch in college called Tania who decided I was sleeping with her boyfriend behind her back and led a harassment campaign against me which is why I had to change my number and stop using social sites. And the stupid thing was that her boyfriend was a total creep. He actually _was_ sleeping around. It's just that it was with every girl in the college _except _me!"

"Sounds like a nightmare!"

"It was. But I got through it. She was deranged and there's no reasoning with girls like her."

"I guess I have to shoulder some of the blame too. I was scared to keep asking after you. When Kurt married Blaine in college he kind of fell off the radar and he was my biggest link to everyone. I probably would have seen you at the wedding but I couldn't make it. I thought of going through your parents but figured that would be too weird. Sending them the postcards from Europe was the only thing I allowed myself to do. I wasn't really sure what they thought of me."

"They loved you Sam. We all did!"

She blushed and averted her eyes and he decided this wasn't the right moment to pick her up on that phrase. But he definitely would. And soon. But for now he decided to show her kindness and moved the conversation on. Slightly…

"But I never stopped thinking about you. Ollie can attest to that."

"I thinks that swift kick under the table the night we met was evidence of that!"

He grinned. "I'm pretty sure I remember you doing the same to Shelly!"

Her grin was even guiltier than his. "Yeah I guess you're right. For such a short lived relationship we had a hell of an impact on each other!"

"Not a short-lived relationship Mercedes, a relationship _cut short_. There's a difference…"

As it was a mild evening and the restaurant wasn't far away, they decided to walk back to her apartment hand in hand. The walk was relaxed but the air felt heavy with unspoken emotions. At the door, all initial inhibitions dropped and their makeout session was even more intense that it had been on the Wednesday.

Coming up for breath Mercedes finally bit the bullet. It was about more than just knowing what she wanted. She needed to be brave enough to make it happen. "Do you want to… come up for coffee?"

His eyebrow arched. "Coffee?"

"Yeah coffee. We just got a new machine a couple of weeks ago and it's pretty good."

By the expression on Sam's face she could see that he couldn't tell how seriously to take her but he followed her through the door without hesitation or second guessing. She could feel his eyes burning a hole in her ass as he followed her up the stairs to her apartment and stood back as he allowed her to open the door.

He stepped inside and cast his eyes around uncertainly. "Where's Shelly?"

"She's at her boyfriend's for the weekend."

A small smile. "That's convenient."

"Very."

Sam walked around the small lounge while she headed to the even smaller kitchen. The flowers were still on the side so she took a vase and arranged them before bringing out to the lounge to put on display.

She sniffed them as she walked. "These are beautiful."

He turned from the window, his eyes dark. "Not as beautiful as you."

Her breath caught in her chest. She recognized that expression in his eyes. Her mind flashed back to the motel room moments before the phone had rung with the worst of news…

A small shiver ran down her spine and she turned back towards the kitchen, avoiding his eyes. Inviting him up had seemed like a good idea at the time but now she was getting nervous. She knew what she was doing but would she be prepared to go through with it? If this was any other man on the planet he wouldn't have made it through the front door at all, but this was Sam and when it came to Sam, there were no rules...

She bit her lip and clenched her thighs together in a failed attempt to dampen the warm feeling between them. "How do you take your coffee?"

He followed her through into the kitchen and pressed himself up behind her rendering her attempt at composure completely redundant. "I can't believe you're actually making coffee Mercy!"

"Oh, did you want something else?"

"I was thinking maybe a little hot chocolate…"

"I have some in the-" He started nuzzling her neck from behind, pressing in closer, making his intentions more than clear and her breath ragged as she attempted to speak again. "Oh! That's _not_ what you meant…"

He spun her round so that he could kiss her lips again, pressing a couple of buttons on the coffee machine while her eyes were still closed. She was lost in the way his lips perfectly maneuvered their way around hers as his tongue did things to her mouth that could probably make her pregnant. Before she knew it, somehow her back was pressed firmly against the counter and her hands were reaching for his shirt buttons while his hands were on her thigh, well above the bottom hem of her dress. She opened her eyes and caught his expression. It read like he wanted to take her there and then, rough and hard right up against the counter.

And damned if she wasn't prepared to simply push her panties to the side and let him!

Sam groaned like an animal in pain and released her from the kiss. "Shit Mercy, I have to go!"

Utter devastation. "You do?"

"Yeah. Because if I don't go right now, I might never leave."

_This was it! _She stopped kissing him and looked him straight in the eye, suddenly finding a confidence she never knew she had to say the two words that would finally get her what she'd been wanting all these years. "So stay."

All breath left his chest as he desperately wanted to believe what he'd just heard. "Are you sure-"

She replied in the most convincing way possible with her mouth on his and this time they both groaned. One hand was settled on the curve of her behind while the other was dangerously high up her thigh, aided by the fact that she'd flung her leg around his waist, his hips and all that went with it grinding into her.

"Mercy – we can't do this in here. At least not the first time anyway!"

She grabbed him by the hand and practically dragged him to her room.

Once there he kicked off his shoes and sat her down on the bed as he knelt before her, unbuckling her sandals, trailing little kisses on her feet that tickled and made her giggle. He then sat down next to her, drowning her in kisses yet again while her hands worked to unbutton his shirt. He helped her ease it off his arms and she was left to gaze on all of his abtastic glory which she wasted no time in marking as her own, the dry hot skin in stark contrast to the solid muscle underneath. He moaned as her mouth travelled towards his belly button and he had to fight with himself not to pull her hair. Instead, he opted to start kissing her shoulders, then the soft underside of her throat making her positively giddy.

The sight of her kiss swollen lips and hooded eyes was nearly too much for him. He rose and pulled her up with him, swaying her as if dancing, then kissing her full on the lips again while slowly lowering the zipper on the back of her dress.

He stepped back, tugging the fabric on the shoulders and allowing it to fall the floor in a pool around her feet. Underneath she was wearing a black lacy bra with matching lacy high cut boy shorts.

She folded her arms around herself, shy from the sudden exposure, but he took her hands in his and held them to her sides. "What I see here is perfection. You should never try and hide perfection." He bent his head to kiss her again while cupping a generous breast in each hand. "I've waited a long time for the opportunity to meet these lovely ladies." Mercedes giggled and her nerves flew away. Overtaken with an uncharacteristic confidence she reached over and unbuckled his belt, the allowed him to help her by removing and kicking his pants to the side. Then she did her best to avert her eyes from the tent in his boxers, but it was like there was a force field pulling them back again. He stood at her side, first kissing her jaw while his hands caressed her waist, then whispering in her ear, "I need you to close your eyes and stay very still for me baby." Without question she did as she was asked and she sensed him move behind her.

"Dayum Mercy!"

She opened her eyes and turned to see what he was doing. He was stood behind her, openly enjoying the view from that angle. She giggled, knowing that it had probably been his fantasy since way back when. In a moment of mischief she giggled and decided to give him a little 'booty-shake' and she could have sworn the tent in his shorts got leaped before her very eyes. He had to sit back down on the bed before his legs gave way. She joined him, their lips and tongues joining for a feast after the famine. After a few moments he leaned back on the bed, pulling her down with him, his hands roaming all over her exposed body and hers over his.

Then he looked her in the eyes. "Before we go any further, have you got any, you know…"

She pointed to the top drawer of the dresser next to her bed. He leaned over and rummaged through it. He was still for a moment and then – _was he laughing?_ She looked up at him, unsure to react as she saw him grinning, with the strip in his hand.

"Mercy, not only are these too small, they're also way out of date. Seriously! How long has it been?"

"Since not long after college."

A flash of guilt passed over his face and he kissed her softly, trying to ease her embarrassment as she avoided his eyes, leaving him to wonder how he was also going to handle the size issue. "It doesn't matter. We don't have to-"

"I'm on the pill. Have been since senior year. Those were just an extra precaution." She still wouldn't look at his eyes. But she had to. For some reason he needed to know.

"Mercy. I need you to look at me." Slowly she turned to face him. "How many?"

"Two." Her reply lowest voice imaginable and he almost didn't hear it. "The first was in at the end of my first year in college. It was a one off stupid mistake and it was horrible. I cried for days afterwards. The second was a relationship that lasted from the final part of college through to the first few months of hitting the real world. After that… Nothing." She sighed at how pathetic she sounded. "And you?"

"Santana was my first. She was simply wanted someone to help her prove to herself that she wasn't a lesbian and I was there. But she was a good teacher. Then there was one girl in college, two broken hearts comforting each other and two after that including the dreadful Harmony. So not as many as you may think. And I always used protection every single time so you don't have to worry about that."

"I'm glad Sam. I'm glad that if it's going to be like this, then it's going to be with you." He ex had constantly asked him to go bareback but she'd always refused. With Sam there was no question and even if there had been he kissed them away.

"Did I tell you that I love you Mercy?"

"Oh, only about a hundred times today. And I think I told you that I loved you back the same number of times."

She started to giggle.

"What is it?"

"It's just... Of all the times I played the moment when we finally get to this point through in my head, I never imagined this much – _conversation_!"

Sam chuckled and reached behind her for the bra clasp, his green eyes dark and mischievous, "Well I know a _really_ good way to shut you up…"

But he was wrong. He didn't shut her up. As he loved her long and hard, slow and fast, he finally discovered just how loud she could actually be...


	27. The Morning After

Mercedes woke up but didn't open her eyes. She'd just had the most amazing dream and knew that if she opened her eyes, there was a good chance it would all fade into nothing. She kept her eyes tightly shut as she listened to the sound of heavy breathing and gentle snoring next to her wishing really hard before finally she opening one eye and looking down at the strong forearm draped loosely over her waist and belly. She stared at the large powerful hand, with the strong fingers that were capable of playing her body perfectly like a musical instrument, producing sounds she never knew she could make and she shuddered with pleasure at the memory.

And yet she still doubted. Only with all fingers and toes crossed did she slowly turn her head to the man lying asleep beside her. He was lying on his front, one arm comfortably tucked underneath him, the other in full contact with her.

Sam Evans looked exactly the same asleep as he did that night all those years ago in the motel room. Only this time with shorter hair and there slight stubble growth on his chin. The expression on his face was complete satisfied serenity that she'd never seen before...

Despite wishing this moment could last forever, a quick glance at her alarm clock registered a disturbingly early 7.22am. Old habits die hard and being awake this early on a Saturday was still unheard of for her, but strangely enough, today she didn't mind. For years she'd fantasized about waking up with Sam Evans beside her and this time it was true. Something was bound to go wrong and ruin it because good things never lasted for her, but for the moment she decided to just stay in the land of disbelief and suspended animation for as long as possible.

It was only when she turned to snuggle closer to him that her bladder brutally reminded her of real the reason she'd woken so early and now it refused to be dismissed and ignored. _Why didn't bladders come with a snooze button? _With a sigh she gently removed Sam's arm from her waist and rested it gently at his side. He stirred very slightly for a brief moment, her name on his lips, subconsciously chastising her for breaking the skin contact before he resumed his deep slumber.

She kissed his forehead softly and smoothed his hair with the lightest of touches before leaving the bed, trying to move the mattress as little as possible.

Barely two steps away from the bed and a second discomfort hits her but this time it was one that made her smile. Santana wasn't wrong! The rumor about large hands and feet was _definitely_ true in Sam's case. Seeing as Sam was in an understandably deep sleep of exhaustion, she opted to extend her stay in the bathroom and treat herself to a hot bath. It worked once before to soothe her after her disastrous first time and she was sure it would do again. There were some relaxing bath salts stored in there somewhere by Shelly and she intended to put them to good use.

Shelly, Shelly, Shelly… Mercedes made a mental note to thank her again for being away for the weekend… A smirk hit her lips when she made a second mental note to never complain about roommate's having loud sex again. If Kyle was even half as good as Sam, the noise was totally understandable. They would just have to come to some kind of an arrangement…

As she slid her body down into the hot water, she allowed it to lap around her skin with gentle caresses as her mind drifted to the hours before.

_She'd lost count of the number of times she had totally lost control, her back arching off the bed and her mouth producing meaningless babble. His strong fingers... and that mouth... and then the two combined... It took her to a new dimension of time and space!_

_And each time, when the explosions had stopped and she was able to open her eyes, Sam was there, staring deeply into them, telling her that he loved her. He would smile at her like she was the most precious thing in the universe, and laughter lines would form in the corner of his eyes. She'd never noticed those lines before. But she liked them. She liked them a lot. They reminded her of an older Sam. A future Sam._

_But then something had changed. He was still smiling but now looking a little nervous, and was pressing in a lot closer. In all honesty she'd been more than a little nervous too, but it was complete truth when she'd said, "I love you Sam and I want this more than anything!"_

_He'd kissed her then, very softly, before moving his lips to her jaw, throat and neck, biting the skin as he slowly eased into her, the sharp pain of his teeth distracting her from the fact that he was so much bigger than his predecessor. And when he was finally fully inside her and they were truly one, both had to remember to breathe before they began to move as one…_

Mercedes felt her skin hot and her pulse racing and knew it couldn't just be put down simply to the bathwater or the fact that her hands were now roaming to her still sensitive breasts…

With her last boyfriend they'd never made love more than once in a night and when it was over, her overwhelming feeling was one of relief. It wasn't horrible. It just wasn't worth getting excited over when there were better things to be done. Like sleep.

Sam had shown her how things could be so much different.

Mercedes Jones was a realist and she had been in a relationship before. Yet somehow, despite all her rationalizations, the first time had been magical. Sam was right. It was so much better with feelings. It was so much better with _love._

The second time was even better than the first!

And the third… well the third was the reason she couldn't walk straight and her throat was a little sore!

After the third time he'd looked down at her sheepishly, releasing her leg from over his shoulder, a position she hadn't even know she could get herself it. "I guess I just got a little carried away. I hope I didn't hurt you…"

He had nothing at all to be sorry about. "Don't worry. I went right there with you! That was amazing! Totally worth the wait!"

Then he'd held her in his strong arms while they lay, limbs entangled in sheets and in each other, because Sam Evans, for all of his prowess, was also a cuddle monster…

And she'd never felt truly more alive!

* * *

Sam woke to the sound of movement, just in time to see Mercedes slipping into a small black satin robe.

His mouth curled up into a smile as he realized she hadn't noticed she was being observed. "Mornin' sugar!"

She spun around startled, clearly thinking that somehow she could get away without waking him up. Without getting her 'good morning'. The smile she shoot him was shy and it melted his heart. After last night there was _nothing _left for her to be shy about. "Morning Sam. How did you sleep?"

"Like a man who used every ounce of his energy lovin' on his woman!" He stretched leisurely, folding his hands behind his head, and watched with an expression of mirth as her eyes were instantly drawn to the tented section of the sheet which was still loosely covering him. Now that he was lying on his back there was no way of hiding the fact that he was standing to full attention.

She swallowed visibly and tightened the robe around her waist. Not the action he was hoping for.

"Come here and tell me you love me!"

She shook her head with a smile. "You've probably got morning breath! And I've got the munchies. There's a new toothbrush and towel in the bathroom waiting for you, and I'll fix us something to eat."

Disappointment flooded Sam's face and nether regions, but he knew this wasn't one that he could win, so instead he chose to enjoy the view of Mercedes as she turned and left the room before leaping up and heading to the bathroom himself. There was no point staying in bed if Mercy wasn't in it with him.

Once there, he stood at the shower, debating which was the lesser of two evils, the magnolia shower gel or the winter berry one. Deciding that smelling of fruit was infinitely better than smelling of flowers, he turned town the temperature of the water. The cold shower was so necessary, especially when images of last night kept flashing into his mind.

It was all he could do not to shout 'mailman' when they first joined together. He'd been so busy worrying about other things that the increased sensation of his first time without a condom had completely taken him by surprise and he'd nearly let go right there and then.

As it was it still didn't take long, but luckily Mercedes was already well on the way there before they'd started and was doing her best to take him over the edge with her. "Oe tìng nga fra'u!" The words had burst forth from his mouth at the same time as he had burst inside her, every sense being heightened, and everything being that little bit too much for him.

And he had meant it. Only Mercedes could have he going back to speaking in Na'vi. He hadn't uttered a word for years yet suddenly he was back to that summer and it just poured out of him.

Hair still damp from the shower and towel wrapped firmly around his waist he made his way to the kitchen, the smell of crispy bacon reminding him that he was hungry after working up an appetite.

Now he could get his good morning kiss.

It was long, leisurely, well worth the wait and had the added bonus of Mercedes running her hands down his bare chest.

"Why do you have to wear just that towel?"

"I have nothing else to wear. Besides, I thought you might like the view. I'm only returning the favor seeing as you're wearing that hot little robe!"

She moaned against his lips before finally finding the willpower to push him away.

Looking over to the table he saw two cups of coffee waiting.

"Don't think I didn't notice that you set the coffee machine last night!" Her tone is one of gentle chastisement. "No idea how you did it though because I _still_ haven't even figured out the instructions yet!"

That smug smile was back. "I have the same one at home. I'll show you sometime."

"There's sugar and cream on the table. I wasn't sure how you take your coffee now."

He opened the small jar and puts two spoons of sugar into one of the mugs without breaking eye contact with her. "Strong… hot… sweet and _black_..." He said the words slowly and sensually, smirking as Mercedes shivered in delight.

Then he stood again. "Do you have orange juice?"

"In the fridge."

As he found the glasses and opened the juice, trying hard not to think about how they were playing out the perfect picture of domestic bliss before giving up and allowing himself to slip into the fantasy.

She'd prepared bacon and eggs and he cleared two plates in record time. No need for the gym today. He was already planning on getting sufficient exercise!

"So are we going to talk about last night?" There is the tiniest hint of a wobble in her voice and it worried him.

"What about last night?" Sam swallowed his final piece of bacon and looks across the table at Mercedes who was suddenly refusing to meet his eyes. He was suddenly filled with confusion. What the hell is all this about all of a sudden?

"Where does this leave us? What exactly are we now?" She looked at him then, and he could suddenly see the fear in her eyes.

It was something he never wanted to see again and resolved to put things straight immediately. "Last night I told you I loved you. All my life you're the only girl outside of my family that I've said those three words to. In my mind, last night was simply picking up from where we left off all those years ago. As far as I'm concerned, if my family didn't have to move we would have stayed together. And hopefully we still would have been together now. That was my intention anyway. And… after last night… I was kinda hoping that it all happened because you were feeling the same way…" Now that he'd seen the fear in her eyes it transferred onto him. He had been confident up until now. But what if he'd misread the last few days and she didn't feel the same way?

She released an audible sigh of relief, as the fear vanished and the guilt set in. "I'm sorry Sam. I didn't mean to question your motives. I just needed to hear it from you. In your own voice. That you were feeling the same way. I would never normally jump into bed with a guy after a week like that-"

"Hush Mercy! I'm not just any guy." He reached out and took her hand across the table, and, for the millionth time that week, released the breath that he didn't know he had been holding. Their intertwined fingers speaking more to each other than words. Making plans and making promises that they would both do their best to live up to.

"Mercedes I have a confession to make." He'd spent the last few days wondering if he should come clean before deciding that it _was _the right thing to do.

"Confession? About what?"

"Your letter. I got your letter."

She frowned. "What letter? Oh…"

Sam felt her try and release his fingers but he gripped them tighter. She wasn't going to escape him this time. It needed to be said then it needed to be laid to rest forever. "Before you say anything, just hear me out with the whole thing. Kurt never knew I received the letter so don't blame him. He asked me if I got anything and I said no because at that time I hadn't. It broke my heart that you'd finally communicated and I didn't receive it but there was nothing I could do. The letter came months late. I don't know what the hell you did with the address but it was totally wrong. My guess is that you were still upset from writing when you addressed it and you just weren't thinking straight. The letter, it came at a bad time. I'd drunk to much at a party and kissed a girl I didn't even know. I was hating on myself both for the way I'd behaved towards your memory and the fact that I was drinking reckless like my dad. I had to read your letter a few times and what it gave me was hope. For the first time I knew that you loved me back even though you'd never said it in person. My first thought was to go and find you straight away, but after reasoning on it I realized that wasn't going to be practical. You were going to graduate and go to college. The timing was all wrong. Then I had the opportunity to see you in Nashville and I figured I would use it to see if you still felt anything towards me. It wasn't hard Mercedes, your eyes don't lie. I knew you still loved me despite the near year that had passed. I never meant for us to argue like we did, but the things said only made me appreciate that we both still wanted the same thing from each other, even though circumstances were impossible. I never intended to lose touch with you. I wanted to keep you as a friend until the time was right to take us back to being more than friends. High school wasn't the right time. College wasn't the right time. Then I was travelling and that wasn't the right time. Then Ollie and I were working every hour of every day on our game and it wasn't the right time. The we branched out on our own and finally things fell into place. I always wanted you back Mercedes, but I wanted it to be when I had something to offer you. It's only in the last year that I've been able to buy property, invest in the future and get settled. Now I'm ready. Now I have something to offer you. I know it's been years but now there's nothing holding us back. This time we can afford to move fast because the groundwork has already been set. I love you and I never stopped loving you. By the time I dropped you home that first night we met again I knew that you still had feelings for me. People on the outside my wonder how this has happened so quickly but it hasn't. The groundwork was already set and the preparation took years. All that was left was for us to be in the right place at the right time for our second chance at love. There's nothing to hold us back now Mercedes. Nothing to hold us back from loving each other the way we always wanted. We're not those kids who went out in high school and eventually got bored of each other. We're not those kids in college who thought they knew the real world but fall apart the moment they actually have to live in it. No, now we're two mature people who know what they want and are in a position to go for it and make it stick forever. _This _is where I see us right now. _This _is all I can ever see ever again."

It was a long speech and Mercedes could do nothing but blink at him. When he finally finished, tears fell from her eyes and she brought their joined hands to her lips and kissed them. "Sam, all this time I've been waiting for you to find me again. I hate that we had to be apart for so long but you're right. I wasn't emotionally ready until now. But neither of us gave up on our love over the last seven years that we were apart, so neither of us are going to give up on it in the future. I don't have to second guess myself. I know that I love you. I know that I want you and I know that I want _us_."

The air was heavy with the seriousness of what they'd both said, and both focused for the moment on staring at their joined hands. Then he back and watched as the shyness creept back onto her face. He would never be able to get enough of watching her changing facial expressions. Her face was like an open book and he fully intended to commit every page to memory.

Moment over and ever desperate for distraction from the emotions that overwhelmed her she sprung up from the chair, grabbing his plate. "I'd better wash this stuff up!" Her voice was nervous and he watched her for a second, enjoying the way the satin of her robe formed a perfect silhouette of her body before standing and pressing himself up closely behind her, hip to hip, reminding her of the thing that she'd so ungraciously ignored earlier.

"The dishes can wait!" He breathed into her ear and she didn't need to look into his eyes to know that the clouded lusty expression was back in them again. "We've just made some pretty serious promises to each other that we need to go and seal in the bedroom."

Without the power of speech, all she could do was sigh as his hands roamed all over her body, caressing, stroking, fondling and cupping.

Then they moved on the satin cord holding her robe together.

Mercedes couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her lips. "Am I going to have to spend the rest of my life fighting to keep your hands off-" The chuckle abruptly ended as she realized what she just said. Rest of life...

Sam spun her to face him so that she could meet his eyes and see the deep dark crystal intensity within them. He held her gaze for a moment before bringing his hand to her face and caressing her cheek softly. "I'm sure that can be arranged." The words are a whisper, but deathly serious.

The dishes were well and truly forgotten as somehow Sam's towel dropped and Mercedes' robe flew open.

And while being carried her back to the bedroom, Mercedes firmly wrapped her legs around her man knowing that their talk of forever had been for real.

And it made her the happiest person alive.

* * *

THE ORIGINAL END

* * *

_**Oe tìng nga fra'u = I give you everything**_

_**This is where the original fic ended. This time round I have a tad more to come...**_


	28. Original Epilogue

**_The last chapter was how I ended the original fic. This short chapter was a bit of random fun I had which became the epilogue. It's basically little micro snippets of scenes from random points in time during Samcedes' first dirty weekend together in her apartment… _**

**_It's in a different tense because the last chapter was originally also written in a different tense._**

**_ENJOY!_**

* * *

Mercedes smiles up at him shyly from under the crook of his arm. "So are you going to stay for whole the weekend?"

He chuckles. "But I don't have any spare clothes!"

She grins back at him mischievously. "Who said anything about you needing clothes...

* * *

They're sitting on her bed, a bowl of Cool Ranch Doritos lying between them, and the second part of the Avatar trilogy playing on her TV.

Sam knows that his life is now perfect.

He drags his eyes away from the screen to nuzzle her cheek. "Nga hasey oe."

"What does that mean?"

He shrugs. "It roughly translates as 'you finish me'. You're the last piece in the jigsaw puzzle. And now I really am complete!"

She reaches up and softly touches his face. "Me too Sammy. Me too..."

* * *

As she crosses the room, Sam suddenly notices her slightly altered gait.

"Oh my god Mercy! Is that because we've been... you know… so much?"

She sends him a look that causes a shot of pride and pleasure to travel down his spine.

And in her head she thinks '_This is nothing, I could barely walk at all when I first got up this morning..._'

* * *

It's Sunday afternoon and they're desperately trying to prepare a meal between the kisses.

Sam is being more of a hindrance than a help. His hands don't stay where they're supposed to and he's eating the raw vegetables faster than she can chop them.

His hands began to wander southwards towards her ass again.

She whacks at them with a wooden spoon before melting into his arms as he nuzzles her neck.

"So how soon are we going to start telling people about us?"

He shrugs. "I think that boat's already flown. Between Ollie and Shelly I think the whole world probably knows! Everyone in Oscar's bar must have figured it out."

"That's true!"

"And I'm sure _all_ your neighbors have heard us through the walls!"

Mercedes blushes so hard she can't speak.

Sam suddenly groans and paints a mock stricken expression on his face.

"What's wrong?"

"I just realized that I'm going to have to fly back to Ohio to have another one of those 'permission to date your daughter' conversations with your dad!"

She laughs and reaches round to whack him on the bottom with the spoon. "Leave my dad out of this! Besides, it's my brother that you really need to worry about..."

* * *

She rolls off him, collapsing heavily onto her back, chest heaving with exhaustion, skin slick with sweat. Sam watches her with amusement as it takes her a moment to come down from her high and compose herself. She hadn't started on top but she sure as hell had ended there!

"Oh my god," she begins, "that was…"

"Incredible!" He finishes her sentence with a smug smile, fingers tickling her bare midriff. "We should do that again sometime very _very_ soon…"

* * *

"So what exactly was it that you were trying to say before you kissed me on Wednesday?"

"I can't remember."

"Surely you must do. It sounded important. Something about us not being friends anymore-"

"Oh that! What I was trying to say was that I couldn't just be friends with you because I'm still madly in love with you and want more than just friendship. But as i'm sure you've already figured out by now, I kiss better than I construct sentences..."

"Ain't that the truth…"

* * *

Sam leans over and whispers into her ear exactly what he's going to do to her once the movie finishes.

She blushes and says, "Dammit Sam, you _do_ have a way with words..."

* * *

She hastily closes her laptop, sneaks behind the chair where he's sitting and whispers something in his ear.

His head snaps around and he grabs her and pulls her down onto his lap.

"What did you just say?"

She frowns, thinking maybe he hasn't understood. But he has. He just wants to hear it from her lips again.

"Nga 'aw ngay yawne." Yet again she said it perfectly.

"And you are mine too," he replies before kissing her.

She squirms out of his arms and steps out of his reach. "So I was thinking, maybe we could just order a takeout tonight..."

Not only is she hot, sexy and his, she is also a mind reader when it comes to food.

"Mercedes Jones, nga tskxe kifkey!"

* * *

THE REAL END

* * *

Nga 'aw ngay yawne = You are my one true love

Nga tskxe kifkey = You rock my world


	29. New Epilogue Part 1

**_This epilogue didn't feature in the original as I did intended to write another concluding fic in this series. The time jump in this one was more of an alternate ending as other stuff was supposed to happen, but I started then deleted the last fic as nobody was reading it but on reposting I've decided to tie up a couple of loose ends which would have been explained in that fic. _**

**_I suppose you could describe this section as bonus material._**

* * *

Sam waited patiently until he saw Mercedes climb into her hired car and pull away from the curb. She was going to have lunch with Burt and Carole Hummel so he knew that definitely bought him a couple of hours. It felt strange walking up the familiar path to the Jones's front door. He remembered the many Saturday mornings that he would practically dance up the path, knowing that they would be spending the morning wrapped in each other's arms watching Doctor Who. He also remembered the first time he came alone sweating with nerves, because he'd wanted to speak with her parents about dating their daughter.

He felt the same way again, although this time he and their daughter had been dating for several months now. He was a grown man with a lot to offer, but that didn't stop the nerves. The way he saw it, it was only right to have a healthy respect for those he hoped would someday become family.

Straightening his spine and striding purposefully he raised his hand and gave a strong confident knock on the front door. It was opened quickly by a very shocked Alicia Jones. "_Sam! _Mercedes said you're still in New York!"

He grinned at her. "She thinks I am!"

"Come here!" She reached up and pulled him into a tight embrace. "You know that you're always welcome here."

"Thanks." He smiled and allowed her to pull him inside.

The sound of their voices had obviously pulled Michael Jones from the his office and he stood, leaning against the door frame of its entrance, casting them both a serious stare, even though his eyes twinkled. "I take it our daughter has no clue that you're here?"

"None whatsoever sir. When I called her this morning she thought that I was about to have breakfast with Ollie in a hotel across town."

He narrowed his eyes. "So you're doing things behind her back? Are you prepared to deal with the consequences?"

"Yes I am sir. A man knows that some things and some situations are well worth taking the chance."

There was a moment of silence when both men thought back to the last time that Sam had turned up at their house unexpectedly and without Mercedes knowledge. Silently the large man nodded. He reached out his hand to Alicia who immediately crossed over to his side and took the hand in hers with a smile. "Can I offer you something to drink?"

Sam thought back to the way his mouth had been parched the last time he'd come to speak to them. This time however, a sense of complete calm had come over him and he actually felt fine. He felt more than fine. "Maybe afterwards."

"Okay then you'd better come through." He led the way into the office and his wife turned around and shot Sam an excited grin as he followed them through.

Within moments they were back in their familiar positions, Sam on the couch, Michael on his chair with Alicia perched on his knee.

Michael broke the silence first. "So Sam, to what do we owe the honor of this visit?"

Sam smiled as he fingered the small box currently located deep in his pocket. "I was hoping you'd ask…"

* * *

Sam didn't even know where he was going until after he found himself stopped in the library parking lot. Even though he and Mercedes had visited Lima together a couple of times, he hadn't been back to his favorite thinking ground for years. And now, without even any conscious thought he'd found himself pulled back there. He hadn't doubted for a moment that her father would say yes to his request for his daughter's hand, the men got on well, but what he hadn't expected was the enthusiasm with which he'd given him his blessing. It was only after they'd had sipped a celebratory shot of something strong that burned all the way down and invited him to stay for lunch that the man revealed he'd paid a lot of attention to the way that they were back when they were teens. He noticed how Mercedes was when she was with him and when they were apart. And more than that. He'd observed them the day of the breakup, especially Sam, and taken note back then the depth of feeling that he had for her daughter. If he was coming back years later, feeling the same way when he knew for sure that his daughter felt the same way, there was nothing on earth that would cause him to hold them back.

Alicia had cried when she saw the ring and heard the story behind it. He'd been a little worried that it might be a little small but knew that Mercedes herself also had small hands and slender fingers. The 'welcome to the family' embraces he'd received blew him away, as did the fact that they insisted on instantly Skyping her brother JJ who was currently on holiday in Egypt with his wife to share the good news.

And now here he was, his feet taking him on the old familiar narrow path and through the archway to the secret garden. Alicia had asked him how he planned to propose and he was still working through various ideas. He wanted to surprise her, but knew that a big public proposal would be something that would make her feel self-conscious so he wanted to avoid that. Currently the idea of taking her somewhere quiet for the weekend to propose was sounding quite promising.

"Sam? Is that you?"

He hadn't seen her. He'd been stood near the entrance for a moment, lost in thought and she'd been stood under the tree, facing away from him. From the corner of his eye he'd sensed another person present but hadn't really paid any attention to who it might have been, assuming it was just one of the locals tending the garden as often happened when he'd been a regular there.

She frowned at him puzzled. "But you're in-"

As he strode towards her he watched the expression on her face change from puzzlement, to confusion to anger that he/d lied about where he was. If there was one thing Mercedes Jones couldn't stand it was dishonesty. She'd asked him so many times to come on this long weekend with her and he'd said he couldn't make it. He needed to attend a weekend seminar with Ollie so he'd driven her to the airport and kissed her goodbye. She'd _seen _him pull away. And now he was _here_?

Sam reached her before she could get the words out. He was going to kiss her to steal any further words from her mouth but instead his brain and his heart took over and he suddenly felt one knee buckle and hit the ground in front of her.

"Are you okay Sam? You're-"

He was more than okay. He'd spent so much time thinking about this that it was happening without thought and without the hours of planning. Of all the beautiful romantic settings he could find to do this, they were already in the best, most significant one of all, and there was a small box burning a hole in pocket. This was their place. The location of their first date and the place where they had laid on their backs and discussed their lives with a childhood enthusiasm and innocence. It was a corner of the world that was untouched, and as the garden displayed its array of beautiful blooms, it was empty of all other people. Just like it had been specifically reserved just for them. And for this...

"Mercedes, I didn't tell you I was coming because this is something I had to do for myself. You know how I am. The whole Southern Gentleman thing, it doesn't leave you and it's a part of me that will be there forever. You should know, you said you find it kinda sexy…"

He winked and the anger melted from her eyes as she recognized his words and his sudden position down on one knee made it dawn on her what was actually happening. "What are you-"

"As soon as your parents saw me they knew why I was there and I know that you needed less than one second to work out why I'm here. I was planning on thinking up a really romantic situation to set this up, but right here right now is more perfect than I ever could have planned so I'm just going to get right on and say it. I know you said a long long time ago you didn't want to get married until after you won your first Grammy but your career has taken a turn in direction since then and so has mine. But one thing hasn't changed. We're still the same two people who slow danced in this garden to Adele singing Make You Feel My Love. And those words were true. I felt your love, even back then in the early days of us. I felt that love when we were together, when we parted and even when we each made mistakes because we were blinded by that love. But one thing it didn't do was die. It simply waited for the right time for us to find each other again. I know it took years, but now we're both at the right point in our lives for me to be able to do this."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small box. Turning it to open towards her he raised the lid and listened to her gasp at the contents. "Mercedes Jones, I have loved you from the moment you agreed to dance with me at prom. I know there's all these flowery words I could try and use but the truth is very simple. You're it for me. And when I say 'it', I don't mean in a dismissive way. I mean it in the sense of _the _'It'. That single elusive key to happiness that everyone tries to find in their lifetime but very few actually succeed. You're that 'something special', that 'you'll know it when you feel it'. Everything about you is right for me. But it goes beyond that. We go right with _each other. _We fit together like two pieces of a puzzle. Your softness smooth's my hard edges and I start where you end. My grandma gave me this ring when we moved to Kentucky and she told me to save it for the special someone. From that moment on it's had your name on it. I've already spoken to your ma and pa and even JJ on Skype so that just leaves me with one last thing to say. Mercedes Jones, would you do me the greatest honor in the world by accepting my grandma's ring and agreeing to marry me?"

She'd gasped at the sight of the ring and now the tears and sobs were in earnest but it didn't stop her from nodding wildly.

He grinned but refused to get up until he heard the words. He cocked his ear and pretended he'd missed her answer. "Huh? What was that?"

Mercedes was clever enough to snatch the box from his hand before smacking him upside the head. He simply laughed, finally standing, pulling her close, brushing her lips with his very gently before making the pressure firmer until she opened her mouth and allowed his kiss to engulf her completely.

It seemed too soon before he had to pull away for air but he kept his eyes focused on hers which were wide and equally focused on him as she breathed hard, still speechless but a smile playing on her lips.

"So I'm taking that as a yes then?"

"Of course it's a yes!" She took the ring from the box and slid it onto her finger where it fitted perfectly. "It's beautiful Sam. I couldn't have chosen a ring that suited me more."

"When your mom looked at it she cried and said the same thing!"

* * *

Time passed without either of them noticing as they sat under their tree basking in the glow of their love but eventually Mercedes did remember that she _had _been annoyed with him.

"So when you called me this morning you weren't about to have breakfast with Ollie?"

He shook his head. "Nope. I didn't have any breakfast. There wasn't any where I stayed."

"You're staying in Lima?"

He nodded sheepishly. "I came last night."

She nudged him with her shoulder. "And left me to sleep all lonely and alone in my parent's house?"

"I think my being in your house and _not _letting you sleep alone might have had a negative bearing when it came to speaking to your parents. They'd probably opt for us havinv separate bedrooms and leaving the door open wherever we went."

"True. So where did you stay that didn't offer you breakfast?"

His face became serious. "The motel."

"The motel? The one where you were living? Why?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. I just felt the need to go back and remember where I'd come from. I own my own home and I'm comfortable with money now, but it wasn't always like that." He pulled out his keys and showed him the battered snowcone keychain that was still attached. The red paint had chipped off and it looked like it had been through the wars but it was still there. "I promised myself that this would be on the keychain to my own home and it is, but this is where I was when I got it, where everything began, and even then, you were right there with me."

Mercedes pulled out her keys and showed him her snowcone, also in a state of disrepair but still going. "Did you ever think when you got us these that we would still be together years later?"

He looked her dead in the eye. "Yes."

A shiver ran down her spine. But it was a shiver of pleasure.

There was a pause as he leaned in to kiss her before she pulled back. "Do you still have the motel room?"

He nodded. "I check out tomorrow."

"Can I see it?"

His immediate response was to question why, but he knew that she wanted to share this with him. She'd spent time in that motel room and knew more than anyone what the memories of that place did to him.

They drove there quietly and when they arrived the opened the door so that she could step in first. It felt the same. Sure the walls were a slightly different color and the bedding was different, but the layout was exactly the same and she wouldn't have been surprised if some of the furniture was the original pieces.

"It feels smaller than before."

"That's what I thought. Maybe because we're older now."

She sat on the edge of one of the beds and patted the space next to her for him to sit. He did so but the serious face still remained. "Wanna talk about it?"

He shrugged. "Not really."

So they didn't. Mercedes lay back on the bed and he laid in her arms in silence for the longest while. "You know, thinking of you got me through a lot of the darkest times when we lived here."

"It did?"

"Yeah. You made everything brighter. Not just for me, but for the kids too. And mom. She adored you so much and your mom."

"It's a shame they lost touch. Hopefully our wedding can bring them back together."

"Our wedding…" The words made Sam's heart leap with joy. After everything they'd each been through he still couldn't believe this was finally going to happen.

Mercedes raised her hand above their heads and they both stared at the ring settled perfectly on it. She was right. The ring _was _perfect for her. They _were _meant to be. He joined her hand in his as he kissed her softly. A chaste closed mouth kiss that held so many promises. "I can't wait for meemaw to see it- SHIT! I haven't called my family to tell them the news!"

She gasped. "Neither have I!" They'd both been so caught up they hadn't even thought of sharing the news.

Sam went to call his mom then held off. "Mercy. How would you like to come to Memphis and break the news in person? Meemaw would love to meet you and she's so frail now…" His voice tapered off and the sadness hung in the air.

"No I'd love to. But we only have a couple of days and there's no direct flights from Lima."

A frown marred his face as he thought about it. "But there are from Cincinnati and that's only two hours from here. We could fly out and back the same day."

A quick call to her parents solved it all. They would go back there for the evening, have a meal together then drive up down and stay in Cincinnati so they could take an early flight and spend the whole day in Memphis with time to visit Sam's home and his grandma's nursing home. The old lady was still as sharp as a button, it was just her failing body that let her down. They would drive up the following day to spend a little more time with Mercedes' parents before their evening flight back to New York. It took Sam minutes to sort the flights and accommodation in Cincinnati and Mercedes loved the clear and efficient way he booked things on the phone after looking them up online. When everything was sorted he looked back at her. "So Mercedes soon-to-be Evans, we've got nearly two hours before we have to be at your parent's for dinner. Any ideas on how we might fill the time?"

She giggled at the way he waggled his eyebrows and did the best to ignore the fact that they'd both been lying on a bed but so far had done nothing but a few kisses. "I don't know. I'm sure there's something we could find on the TV. I dunno, maybe watch the news or something?"

"The news!" He pretended to be affronted before leaning forward and kissing her. As she relaxed into the kiss he leaned her back and crawled to lie between her legs. "I was thinking something a little more like the Discovery Channel."

"Discovery huh?" She raised her head to expose more of her neck to the kisses that he was tickling her with.

"Mmmhmmm…" He allowed his hands to roam the now totally familiar landscape of her body. "I think we need to celebrate out engagement, and there was that song about the Discovery Channel…"

"Song?" It was getting harder and harder to form words as the temperature went up in the room and Sam's hand went up under her top.

"Yeah. Don't you remember? _You and me baby ain't nothing but mammals, so let's do it like they do on the Discov-_"

She pulled back. "Sam Evans! If you dare finish that line you'll be spending the next hour on the other bed _alone_!"

"Huh? That song doesn't turn you on?"

"That song doesn't turn _anyone_ on."

"Oh." He pretended to think for a moment. "How about _this _then?" Shifting his hips, he ground against her core, knowing that the thin leggings she was wearing would do little to block the friction of his hardness in his jeans. The resulting groan proved he was right.

"Oh yeah. _That _works!" She opened her legs wider and hooked one around his back allowing him to press closer and harder as he continued to grind up against her.

"So I was thinking, maybe we should have a do-over of that afternoon before the phone rang!" Sam smiled down at her kiss swollen lips. He loved that look on her, glazed and flustered yet also deeply happy.

"I'm pretty sure we weren't grinding like this that afternoon."

He rocked his hips against hers even harder, causing her to whimper with combined pleasure and frustration. "Trust me, we were only seconds away from it!"

"You _were_ wicked Sam!"

"I'd been patient for the longest time and I needed you to feel some of the frustration I felt being near you and not being able to touch you the way that I wanted."

"Well now you can touch me as much as you like!"

"Is that an invitation?"

"That's a promise!"

* * *

Despite their hunger for each other, their lovemaking was slow and intense. With every stroke Sam let her know how much he loved her and how much he was looking forward to be doing this with her for the rest of their lives. There would be other times to take it hard and fast, but this time it was the sealing of a promise made with a ring in their secret garden. The sharing of hopes shyly expressed as they laid on their backs by the lake staring up at the clouds all those years before. It didn't matter that it was a crappy motel room. They could have stayed their in each other's arms for the rest of the day. Unfortunately they needed to have dinner with her parents then make the drive up to the airport hotel in Cincinnati so that they could get their early flight in the morning.

As Mercedes spent time in the bathroom getting herself back together and freshening up, Sam threw his clothes into his bag for his early checkout and stared out the window as he saw his visibly pregnant next door neighbor leave the room with three mixed race children in tow. She reminded him of a shorter heaver version of Santana and was wearing a diner uniform. He watched as she knocked the door at the end of their row and the three children went inside. She then sighed, looked at her watch, rubbed her back as if it was aching her and quickly hurried around the corner. When he'd first walked into his room he'd heard the noise of the kids playing next door and initially it had annoyed him. Then he remembered how hard it was to get Stacey and Stevie to keep their voices down in the room and he cut them a little more slack.

Initially he'd wondered if the woman was a single mother when he'd seen her pitch up in her diner uniform, but as he'd been unable to sleep with the multiple thoughts going through his head, at midnight he'd been awake to see a tall black man with shoulder length locks in the delivery uniform who arrived looking tired and let himself in. Three and a half hours later, the same man left, looking equally tired, but this time wearing a storeroom uniform. Sam felt the struggle acutely. The effort of working every available hour for minimum wage and little return.

"What are you doing?" Mercedes watched him with the question in her eyes as he slipped a small white envelope under the door of the room next door as they walked together to the main office so they could check out early.

"Being a good neighbor." One day he would tell her that the envelope contained the contents of his wallet, four fifty dollar notes, but not today. The image was still clear in his mind of coming home and finding his mom in tears, clutching the fifty dollar note that she'd found in an envelope that someone had pushed under the door while they were all out. To this day they never knew who the money came from but it had come at a time when Stacey was sick and they'd had literally nothing to give her. Their food had run down to their last few packets of noodles and Sam had resorted to sneakily bringing home expired food from work. He'd made it out from that dark place and now it was his turn to pay it back.

* * *

"It's a shame your dad's working away this weekend. It would have been great if he could have been there when we told the rest of your family."

Sam's jaw tightened but he said nothing. He knew that Mercedes saw the look but she still didn't know what kind of a man Dwight Evans really was. It was the one thing that he had resolved not to tell Mercedes about. How was she to know that it was actually a relief for the whole family when he was away at work? Despite his reservations, at her prompting Sam had tried to be a dutiful son but no longer felt it was worth the effort. The last conversation they'd had ended with Sam hanging up on him when he'd started to grumble that the only reason he had to work so far away was because all the local jobs had been taken by immigrants. He'd hoped for change in his dad's attitude over the years but it wasn't there and it affected the family. He regularly gave money to his mom for her and the kids because he didn't trust that his dad was using all his money for fulfilling his family responsibilities. Mercedes didn't fully understand. She thought that his problems with Dwight stemmed only from the man's alcoholism and he didn't want to put a downer on their news by revealing that his dad would be the only one to _not_ respond with enthusiasm.

It was a tearful reunion. Mercedes had talked to Mary, Stacey and Stevie several times on Skype but this was the first time they were seeing her in person since they'd moved from Lima all those years ago. Stacey was the spitting image of her mom and Stevie was growing into quite the blond haired blue eyed heartbreaker. The way they welcomed her to the family with excitement made Sam proud and he was relieved his dad wasn't there to put a damper on the atmosphere.

While Mary prepared lunch, they took the short drive to the residential facility where Sarah Evans resided, now that she was physically unable to move around her own home unaided. She liked it there for the company and the fact that it was so close that Mary was able to visit her on practically a daily basis which was a lot more than could be said of her own son.

As they entered the building Mercedes turned to him. "Are you sure she'll be okay with me? I know the older generation can be a bit…"

He pulled his arm around her waist reassuringly. "She's fine. She'll love you and she trusts my judgment. Besides…" the tight jaw returned, "sometimes it's not the older generation who have the problems."

She paused and gazed at him thoughtfully and he could see her expression change as she finally worked things out. "Your dad? But he was never horrible to me…"

Sam sighed, feeling hurt on her behalf. "I know. And he never would be. Not to your face. But let's just say he thought you were simply a phase I was going through."

"A phase?"

He nodded, allowing the words to sink in and watching as Mercedes began to draw her own conclusions without him having to spell it out. "Don't take it personally. He's the one living in the time warp, not meemaw. And I think it hurt his pride that when we had nothing, the people who helped us most were the ones he would have been least inclined to go out of his way for."

Sam left it at that, knowing that she and Kurt were the two that really helped him the most that summer. She squeezed his hand tighter, knowing that she was thinking the same thing. One of the things he loved about Mercedes was that she knew when to stop pushing him. Also that she was smart enough to work things out without being told. He never had to spell anything out to her other than the depth of his feelings. It's just one of the reasons why they worked so well. She never asked him about his relationship with his dad again after that.

Rather than being up in her chair, Sarah Evans was sat up in bed, recovering from a chest infection, but her eyes lit up in recognition of her favorite grandson. "Sam! You didn't tell me you were coming! And you brought a guest! You shoulda told me before so I could've got my hair done!"

He went straight to her and kissed her cheek. "This isn't a guest meemaw, this is family!" Pulling Mercedes forward he introduced them. "Mercedes, this is my grandma Sarah Evans. Dad's mom."

A huge smile spread across her face and she instantly reached out her gnarled hand for Mercedes'. "Your picture didn't do you justice."

"I'm honored to meet you." She returned the woman's warm smile before turning to Sam with a confused expression. "So which pictures of me did you see?"

Sam leaned forward, looking surprised. "I haven't showed you any pictures of Mercedes yet grandma!"

"Oh hush!" The old woman instantly dismissed him, "Just because you didn't actually show it to me doesn't mean I don't know what was under your pillow!"

Sam turned bright red and cast his eyes to the ground in an attempt to shield his burning face. _How on earth had she known that!_

"Pillow?" Mercedes felt like the only one in the room who didn't understand and Sarah smiled warmly at her again.

"When they first moved back to Tennessee, this boy slept with a picture of you under his pillow every night!"

"Grandma!"

"I said hush! She needs to know how long you've held a candle for her Sammy."

"Yes _Sammy_ what picture is this?" Laughter shone in both women's eyes at his expense and he wanted the ground to swallow him whole.

"If you must know it was the official prom photo. Until you sent me the other pics it was pretty much the only one I had of us together. I folded the part with Rachel behind so that it looked like it was just you leaning up to kiss me."

"Sam that's really cute! That's nothing to be ashamed of!"

"I- I was just…" He knew he would regret introducing the two women but he didn't know the regret would set in so quickly.

Sarah looked at him dismissively then smiled back at Mercedes. "The boy was so lovesick it made my heart sad. He pined for you and I can't imagine you were faring much better. Separation is so hard on young love." She took Mercedes' hand and fingered the ring gently. "Congratulations my dear. It looks so beautiful on your skin."

"Purple is my favorite color."

"I can see why. As soon as I gave this to Sam I saw the glint of determination in his eye and I knew that he'd already planned who to give it to. If he makes you half as happy as you make him you're going to be in for a wonderful life. I had a wonderful life with his grandpa and would do it all over again in a heartbeat, but you have that extra spark of first love which you need to never let die."

"We won't."

"That's good." Sarah squeezed her hand tighter. "Mary and the grandkids spoke so highly of you. Sam's not the only one who fell in love with you back then. And Sam," she reached out her other hand to him, it was frozen as a claw through arthritis so Sam took it gently in his, "promise me that you'll look after her. She's a good person and deserves the best treatment. Keep her away from your dad's poison. She doesn't need to have to deal with that." She sadly and her head slowly. "It's a sad day when you call out your own flesh and blood for their shit!"

Sam turned scarlet, unsure if it was for the reference to his dad or the fact that she'd just cursed. "Grandma!"

She was unapologetic. "What? So I said _shit. _I'm old and I'm not long for this world. When you're in my position you can say what you like without consequences too. My one son has turned out to be a disappointment so let me find my pleasure through my grandchildren." Her gazed fixed on him hard. "And _grandchildren…_"

Sam added a groan to the red face and Mercedes cleared her throat nervously sparking her curiosity. "There isn't one already on the way is there?"

"No!"  
"No!"

"Oh. That's a shame. So when's the wedding? Don't set it too far away because I want to see it before I die…"

Yes there were definitely some perks to being old...


	30. New Epilogue Part 2

**_Three years later…_**

"Hi! My name's Candy and I'll be your server for this evening!" The bright perky redhead wore a large badge bearing her name and smile that caused the freckles on her nose to bunch together. "Can I get you guys something to drink?"

Sam asked for a couple of sodas and she skipped off to collect their orders.

"I can't believe this place is still here! Do you think the breadsticks are as good as they used to be?"

"I don't know but we can try them out."

Mercedes scanned the menu carefully for what felt like an age then rubbed her rapidly swelling belly. "I think the baby wants breadsticks and steak."

"What are you having with the steak?"

"Breadsticks of course!" She looked at him as if that should have been obvious and he quickly looked back down at his menu knowing better than to argue. "I think I'll join you on the steak but I'll go with the mashed potatoes for my side.

The place fascinated Mercedes. Breadstix looked like it had been caught in a time warp with the same décor and practically the same menu as when they'd been teenagers despite the fact that it had actually changed hands more than once since then. It also still seemed to be popular with the high school crowd and they figured if there was a formula that worked it didn't make sense to mess with it too much. Best of all, the food was surprisingly good and Mercedes polished off her well done steak in no time.

She was happy with the food but _not _her husband. "Sam, I can't believe we left little Jade with my parents so that we could have a nice meal out in Lima, a rare opportunity to be child free and take some time for ourselves before this one comes along, only for me to have to sit here and watch you ogle our server who's barely out of high school! In case you hadn't noticed, your _wife_, who just so happens to be pregnant with your second child, is sat here _right in front of you!"_

Sam looked back at her sheepishly. Pregnant Mercedes could often get irrational, but she actually did have a point. He _had _been fascinated with the server, but not for the reason that she thought. Visits to Lima were getting more and more frequent after the birth of their first child, a daughter named Jade because of her remarkable eyes. And now everything they needed was here.

After struggling with a ruined marriage for several years, Mary Evans had finally worked up the courage to leave the alcoholic and sometimes emotionally abusive Dwight and pick up life on her own with the children. She would have stayed and endured if it was just for herself, but she couldn't bear the thought of him around Stacey and Stevie as they went through their difficult teenage years. Sam and Mercedes' wedding had brought Mary and Alicia back to a healthy friendship and when she'd finally worked up the courage and made the break, the offer from her new in-laws of a place to stay with enough room for all of them, plus guaranteed reception and administrative work in one of the branches of Michael's dental practice made the decision that much easier. Lima wasn't the greatest place in the world, but it was cheaper than New York where her son lived with his family, and McKinley High was still a viable option as school for her children. Stevie was in his senior year and needed stability to graduate now that he'd also been diagnosed with dyslexia.

Stacey and Stevie had been thrilled to make the move back and become reacquainted with some of the old friend's they'd left behind that still remained. The new semester was about to start and the new school beckoned them. It was with thoughts of this that Sam eyed the redhead with the freckles so carefully.

"Earth to Sam!"

"Huh?"

"I swear. If you look in that girl's direction one more time I'm flying straight back to New York and changing the locks!"

"Mercy, don't be so dramatic! She's just a kid and I'm not staring at her I'm just thinking. How old do you reckon she is?"

She side eyed him as she shrugged but still answered the question. "Probably a senior. This looks like her first job."

"That's what I was thinking." He pulled out his phone, "I'm going to text Stevie and ask him to join us for dessert."

"How come?"

"I think I owe him a favor…"

Sam leaned forward and told her about the argument Stevie and Stacey had which led him to truly examine his feelings for her. He'd told her the story many times before but this time he added more detail about the boy conversation in the bathroom and how he suspected that this girl was the same Candy that Stevie had referred to all that time ago. "He really liked her you know. He went on about her for months after we moved away and apparently they were pretty close."

"So you want to reunite them?"

"Well he made me do some honest soul searching about you. I don't see any harm in paying it forward!"

Mercedes rolled her eyes and he chuckled to himself before shaking his head.

"What?"

"_You! _Mercy I can't believe you thought I was checking out some teenage server while you're sat right in front of me!"

"Oh, so you'd be checking out teenage servers if I _wasn't _sat here?"

He looked at her hard and felt reassured by the twinkle in her eye. This was her second pregnancy and he still struggled to tell when she was joking and when she wasn't. With the hormones flooding her body, getting it wrong was an extremely unpleasant experience for him and sleeping under a scratchy blanket alone in the spare room was never going to be an option ever again.

"So is Stevie going to come?"

"He'll be here in fifteen."

"How did you manage that?"

"The truth. I told him I had a surprise for him and there's a free dessert in it. I think I had him at free dessert. Luckily Stacey's out or she'd want to tag along and I don't want to cramp his style."

"Well you're going to have to eat slower or she'll be back to take our order before he gets here!"

She had no need to worry. Thanks to Stevie's first ever set of wheels he was there in just over ten minutes. Sam eyed him with a smile. "Bored were we?"

Stevie sighed and sat heavily into an empty seat. "Our mom," he turned to Mercedes, "…and _your _mom, have decided I need to sort through my clothes for school. Why the hell do I need to do that? I'll just grab what's clean each morning! And school doesn't even start for another two weeks!"

Mercedes laughed. "They just want you to be prepared."

"Yeah. And it's important to look good."

He slumped even further. "What's the point of looking good. It's Friday night and I'm busy avoiding sorting through my clothes by playing with a baby! My life sucks. Besides, there won't be anyone for me at school. _You_ married the best girl to ever pass through the walls of McKinley!"

Sam grabbed Mercedes' hand. "That may be true, but you never know until you get there…"

Suddenly Stevie wasn't slumped anymore, he was sat bolt upright and running his fingers through his blond hair anxiously. Sam didn't need to turn his head to know the reason as the voice came from behind him. "Hi I'm Candy and I'll be your- Stevie? Stevie Evans is that you?"

Stevie's face and ears burned bright red and he cleared his throat. "I go by Steve now but yeah, that's me!"

"Oh my god this is _so cool_! I guess you probably don't remember me but-"

"I _definitely _remember you Candy! You're the reason I was so sad to move away."

He wasn't the only one who was bright red as Candy let out a shy giggle and wiped her hands on her uniform. They could all practically hear her heart racing. "So, um, what can I get for you _Steve?_"

The younger Evans didn't take his eyes off her. Without even opening the menu he said, "A triple chocolate fudge sharing sundae and your number please."

She avoided everyone's eyes but there was no avoiding the huge smile on her face as she tapped the order into her PDA. "I'm not due to have my break for another thirty minutes but I'll see if I can swap it with Sinead and meet you outside in ten minutes with two spoons."

Then she disappeared like lightning.

Silence descended on the table. Stevie was too busy following Candy's every step with his eyes to notice. Right from childhood he'd had a confidence that knew no bounds. Sam sat staring at his brother with his jaw unable to close and Mercedes wasn't entirely sure what to make of the strange encounter. Finally she was the first to break the silence. "What the hell just happened there? I mean I saw it but I don't get it!"

Sam was still speechless. "What happened to the Evans men have no game?"

Stevie grinned shyly, his face still on fire. "That only ever applied to you Sam. Candy and I were close. She kept asking me when I was going to take her for an ice cream but obviously we had no money at the time. Then I moved before getting the chance to say goodbye. I thought about Candy all the time when we were in Kentucky and I thought about that conversation we had with each other that time in the motel bathroom Sam. Do you think she might be my Mercedes?"

Sam shrugged. "There's only one way to find out." He threw a fifty on the table and stood. "That should more than cover everything we've had. I think Mercy and I are going someplace else for dessert. We'll leave you little _lovebirds_ with some privacy."

Mercedes also stood and he rushed round to help her with her jacket. She glared at him. "I'm pregnant not an invalid!"

Stevie smirked, leaning back in his seat and enjoying the view of Sam negotiating the minefield that is a pregnant woman. Sam glared back at him. "You wait 'til it's your turn!"

"Not until I'm in my twenties!"

As it was warm, Sam and Mercedes decided to stretch their legs and walk to the nearby diner rather than take the car. He put his arm around her waist and pulled her close. The feeling of protectiveness was so much stronger with her pregnancy. "Have you decided what you want to eat yet? I was thinking waffles."

She shook her head and looked back in the direction they'd just come. "The baby still wants breadsticks."

Sam stopped and stared at her. "You've got to be kidding right?"

"Okay, yeah I'm kidding! Put your face was such a picture…"

He growled then placed a soft kiss on top of her head.

"It's so funny how scared of me you get when I'm like this!"

"I don't like sleeping without you."

"That was _once!_"

"Once too many!"

"It was also during a heatwave!"

"_You _were generating the heatwave. Everyone else on the planet was a normal temperature."

"So are you regretting all of this?" She pointed down to her still cute five month baby bump. Last pregnancy had also looked this cute until half way through the seventh month when she'd literally stretched to the size of a whale overnight.

"Never. Ollie in the office means I can work from home more and more, plus we have more time for family visits."

The resulting scowl spoke volumes. "It's these family visit's that's the problem."

"It's not my fault meemaw loves you and wants to see another grandchild before she dies!"

"Samuel Evans, your grandma may look frail and tiny but she's as strong as an ox! There's no need to get me pregnant once a year because she keeps telling you she's going to die! Besides, it's embarrassing getting pregnant again so quickly. People will think we have no self-control around each other!"

He nuzzled her neck and gently squeezed her ass, not caring who saw. This was his wife, frequent PDAs were a requirement to keep all other men away. And also because he couldn't keep his hands off her. "But the truth is neither have any self-control. Waiting after Jade was born nearly killed me! It was supposed to be six weeks and we barely made it to five!"

"You heard the midwife say it was okay if I felt up to it and the lochia had stopped after two weeks."

"And grandma says it's best to have them all at once and get the baby part over and done with. Then they'll be old enough to leave behind when we enjoy our second honeymoon!"

"Sam! We should never have got her that IPad for Skype! I can't trust the things she says to you behind my back. She probably already knew that breastfeeding wasn't going to stop me getting pregnant again so quickly."

"Come on. You said it would be good for Jade to have a sibling close to her age. It'll be hard when they're both in diapers, but as they get older they'll be really good friends."

"I know, I guess it just feels like I've been pregnant since the moment we said 'I do'!"

"You're forgetting the year of wedded bliss we had and the six months of blissful engagement before then!"

She had. And Sam was right it _had _ been blissful. Mercedes hadn't been too fussy about what she wanted for her wedding as long as she got to wear a beautiful dress and ended the day married to Sam. To make things easier and to avoid her mom interfering too much in the plans of her only daughter she'd agreed to get married in Tennessee so that Sara Evans wouldn't have to travel. They'd ended up with a beautiful outdoor ceremony and everything had been perfect. The only fly in the ointment had been Sam's dad, who, despite his threats, decided that he would pull on a suit and make an appearance. Thankfully he skulked off pretty quickly with one of the bottles of champagne and nobody in attendance saw any reason to try and find him for the photographs. Things between him and Sam were at their worst and it had begun to put a strain on his relationship with Mary who at that point had been stuck between two worlds. Sam had been one hundred percent supportive when she'd finally made the decision to leave him, and only he knew the fact that Dwight had actually been cheating on her while he was 'working away' which gave her legitimate grounds for divorce without harming her Christian conscience.

Stacey refused to give up on her crush on Ollie despite knowing that he was gay and lived with his boyfriend. It made it funny to see him trying to avoid her and Sam suspected she was partly acting it out to wind him up and get a reaction. It certainly worked. But nothing was going to spoil that day for Sam and Mercedes. They'd invited a few of their Glee clubbers but the only ones who were able to make it were Puck and Lauren, and Quinn with her husband Jean-Pierre who travelled all the way from their new home in Paris just to attend with Beth who they now had custody of and Quinn's new son Anthony. Initially Puck had been worried about her taking his daughter abroad, but regular contact with Beth who knew exactly who he was, together with Lauren unexpectedly giving birth to twins after not even realizing she was pregnant until over five months into the pregnancy meant that he was busy enough to be happy with the arrangement and Quinn had extended their visit for the wedding so that Beth could spend time with her father and step family.

By the time they got back to the Jones house, ten month old Jade was racing around in her baby walker, screeching with delight as she intentionally crashed herself into every surface rather than playing with the toys on it.

"Mama!" The second she saw her parents she stopped and raised her arms to be picked up.

"How's has she been mom?"

"A little terror! I knew I shouldn't have let her get in that thing! I remembered too late just how much you loved yours and she's been refusing to get out without screaming!"

This the baby simply cooed and made a grab for Mercedes face she picked her up and kissed her chubby cheek. Jade's curly hair was still naturally short but her eyes had changed from the vivid green that they'd been after birth to a more natural hazel. They didn't regret choosing her name though. After a second she began to squirm and Sam took her, knowing that Mercedes' belly made it harder and harder for her to hold her for long.

"I thought Stevie was with you?"

"He was, but then he bumped into an old school friend so he'll be back a little later." Sam felt proud of himself for keeping the smile out of his voice as he spoke.

"Mercedes you should sit. Should I get you something?"

Sam grinned at the eye roll that Mercedes made but she obediently sat which meant she was actually tired enough to not fuss about it. "Some herbal tea would be great." He caught the twinkle in her eye and knew that she was going to make the most of the situation. "And do you have any fresh bread? I know I've just eaten but, you know, the baby and all…"

Using the opportunity of Alicia Jones's back being turned, he joined his wife on the couch and pulled her in for a kiss which lingered longer than necessary, interrupted only by Jade who was attempting to wiggle herself down onto the floor. She was nearly walking but not quite and loved being on the floor as much as possible although Sam suspected in this instance she just wanted to crawl back over to the walker.

"Do you think the work men would have made a huge mess?"

Sam grinned at her worry. "They're decorating Mercedes! They're painting and making improvements not the other way around!"

"I know, but I just want everything to be nice and safe for Jade when we get back."

He kissed her again. "It will be."

Their week in Lima had been timed to coincide with the fixing up of the house they'd just bought. Living in an apartment was fine with one baby but not for two. Thankfully they'd found their dream home in a perfect location and had hired a team to make all the necessary improvements and decorations so that they could move into it fresh. He didn't want Mercedes and the baby to be around all the dust and paint fumes while it happened so they used the opportunity to get away.

Sam had looked into buying a house for his mom too, but she refused to budge from the Jones home saying she was enjoying it there far too much. Luckily one of the houses on the same street had just come up for sale and he was looking into that as a compromise. Now that he was successful he couldn't sit back and let his family remain without their own home. The Tennessee house was Dwight's inheritance and Mary didn't have much family of her own.

Thinking many thoughts he pulled Mercedes into his arms and held her as they watched their little girl make her way uncertainly across the floor. With all the drama they'd been though during their teenage years, it was great to be happy and settled. Putting their snow cone keychains onto the keys for their first house together had been the icing on the cake.

Sam and Mercedes had made it! It may have taken a long time, but they were together, having the family they'd always dreamed of and sharing the love they'd been unable to fight despite the passage of time.

He kissed her one more time and smiled. "Thank you Mercedes."

"Thanks for what?"

"For loving me, for giving me everything and for making me the happiest man alive."

She smiled and returned the kiss. "No Sam, thank _you…_"

* * *

_**This is the end for real now. It's liberating to be finally done.**_

_**Thanks for reading x**_


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